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caligvlasaqvarivm · 3 months

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Murder, Love, and Destiny: An Eridan Ampora Character Study

Warnings for things from Homestuck, like discussions of child abuse, mental illness, murder, suicide, etc. etc.

Because there's a huge wall of text after this point, I'm going to summarize what I hope to convince you of in bullet point format, and then hope you'll actually read the rest of the text before arguing with me about it.

Eridan is the least casteist highblood, if you ignore all the slurs.

Those are his emotional support slurs.

Pale EriKar was not only canon, but set up to be endgame.

Eridan is incredibly plot-relevant, thematically relevant, and was definitely originally intended to be brought back to life, alongside the other dead trolls.

He's Sad.

The first thing we have to establish is what counts as "canon" for the purpose of this essay. I am only counting the original comic up to Game Over, after which there's a general consensus that Hussie kind of gave up on his original planned ending, and slapped together something that most people hate. So I am immediately disqualifying Pesterquest, supplementary material, fanworks deemed canon, the epilogues, and Homestuck^2.

Moreover, we are taking Hussie's commentaries with a grain of salt, for two reasons. The first reason is that I firmly believe - and will be arguing - that the original plan was to bring Eridan (and the other dead trolls) back; therefore, Hussie (who has a track record of playing coy with future plot twists) can't speak too fondly of him, lest he give it away. The second reason for de-emphasizing Hussie's words is that, post-retcon, Hussie isn't very well going to say that he had plans for a better ending, and then didn't execute on them; to save face, he has to act as though his trashing of several prior plot threads, including but not limited to Eridan, was the plan all along.

Therefore, this essay will not be putting too much emphasis on Word of God, and will instead be relying on textual evidence from the comic itself, of which there is plenty. So without further ado:

Eridan is a Consummate Murderer.

The reason I'm starting with this point is that, far more than any other, this truth lies at the core of his being. Eridan is formally introduced to us with a murder, and he's haunted by an overpowering genocide complex. He outright describes to Rose at one point that "killin is all i evver done practically," and uses "murder" as an expletive (ie "swweet stinkin murder"). With a conservative estimate of 5 kills per week for 4 sweeps (Vriska looks VERY young when she has to start killing, and Eridan was likely a similar age when he began), both Eridan and Vriska easily have bodycounts above 2000 - the real number is probably even higher.

At this point, many raise an objection that Eridan is only killing lusii, but I believe we need to count his kills as troll murders, for three reasons: first, a dead lusus results in the orphaned troll being culled; second, one has to assume he has had cases of trolls trying to defend their lusii, or coming after him for vengeance; and third - and most importantly - Eridan HIMSELF is thinking about the orphaned trolls.

Compare Feferi: Go Home:

That should keep her happy for a while. At least until she dies.

To Eridan: Go Home:

That should keep her happy for a while. And make a freshly orphaned troll somewhere very sad.

So Eridan, to a much greater extent than even Feferi, is thinking about the orphaned trolls he's leaving behind, and considers his own actions to be murder.

Now that we've established the facts regarding his murders - a rough bodycount, and the fact that, by his own admission, he barely had any hobbies outside of it - we can move on to the effect that it's had on him. It's not very good!

Vriska's manipul8tions and murders had to be done for her own sake - if she ever stopped, she died. Therefore, much of Vriska's personality revolves around justifying her own actions so she doesn't have to reckon with her softer feelings, like guilt or kindness - which she expresses would be viewed as scandalous by others of her caste.

But if Eridan ever stops feeding Gl'bgolyb, everybody dies. The stakes he has riding on his shoulders are, at all times, the fate of all trolls, including all his friends. Given Dualscar's title was "Orphaner," it's implied that killing lusii for Gl'bgolyb has always been a violet blood's duty, and is seen as such by the others, which is why nobody expresses gratitude for his hard work even a single time.

Which brings us to our next point:

Eridan is Crushed by Anxiety.

If Eridan stops killing lusii, everybody - especially his friends, but everybody else, too - dies.

If Eridan ever shows guilt or kindness, he'll be considered "weak" by the standards of highbloods - he shares this with Vriska.

Eridan is expected, by aristocratic tradition, to take on the mantle of his ancestor Dualscar and finish his work. Dualscar met a comedically cringefail end, so this is a massive undertaking.

Before finding out that god tiering is an option - so, for nearly his entire life - Eridan has had to live with the expectation that he will outlive all of his friends. The lowbloods from culling or dying on the battlefield, the highbloods from old age, and Feferi from being killed by the Empress when she gets old enough.

(This is reflected in who he talks to the most - Feferi, who's the only one with a natural lifespan longer than his, Vriska, who's a highblood, Kanaya, who's practically guaranteed to survive into adulthood, and Karkat, whose anonblood allows Eridan to give him the benefit of the doubt.)

Also if he can't land his concupiscent quadrants he'll die from that too, but that seems pretty secondary to the rest of his concerns.

He can't even make friends with the other highbloods, because sea dwellers are expected to hate and antagonize them.

He had a free ticket into adulthood, but would almost certainly be expected to join the army and serve as a commander. That is to say, his fate of performing the role of a vicious, murderous sea dweller seems dreadfully inevitable to him.

NO WONDER he can't stop having emotional breakdowns. NO WONDER his chatlogs swing wildly from relentless self-aggrandizement to traumadumping. NO WONDER he's obsessed with murder and death and genocide.

Doc Scratch calls him a "vengeful boy on the path of nihilism," and it's not hard to see why: Eridan's entire life has been about living up to the role imposed on him by society, sacrificing his own time and sanity for everyone else, which he "nevver got any appreciation for anywway." And all he had to look forward to was more of the same, all his friends dropping dead one by one before him. For Eridan, there has never been any hope.

SGRUB could have been a way out for him, but a combination of his own terrible choices, spurred on by his anxieties, and his teammates' unwillingness to knock some sense into him, meant that he only wound up mired even deeper in his hopelessness.

We all know about how Eridan wouldn't stop killing the angels on his planet, provoking their aggression and turning it into a ball of death. How he was definitely not supposed to be doing this, and how his stubborn insistence on it led to his further ostracization from the rest of the group. The thing is, when we look at his angel-murders from the point of view that Eridan's entire life has been about murdering things or else Something Bad™ happens, it actually starts to become... kind of sad.

KARKAT: BETWEEN A TRIGGERHAPPY PRINCE WITH A GOD WEAPON BLASTING ANYTHING THAT TWITCHED AND A MILLION CRAZED ANGELS HE DELIBERATELY ENRAGED, IT WASN'T WHAT I'D CALL AN IDEAL SOCIAL HUB. KARKAT: IF YOU WERE LONELY WHY DIDN'T YOU VENTURE OUT MORE OFTEN? ERIDAN: wwell i wwoulda but nobody else wwas vvolunteerin to pick up the slack on angel killin duties

Killing the angels is something he feels like his has to do, because his entire life has been about killing things he doesn't want to kill. He's unable to break out of that mindset on his own, and his unpleasant personality has scared off anyone who might want to help. No one on the team tries to understand his thought process on a deeper level, not even Karkat, who just tells him it was an idiotic thing to do without addressing his underlying anxieties at all. Indeed, "nobody understands."

And this is really the root of why I think so many people get the wrong read on Eridan - Eridan is constantly contradicting himself, constantly denying his own feelings, constantly pushing an image that he doesn't actually believe in, and constantly insisting that he's fine with all the horrible shit in his life - that he likes it, even. After all, he can't admit to his guilt for his murders, or how much he doesn't want to watch his friends die, or how scared he is about the future - that'd be weakness!

CC: I can't look after you anymore. CA: I DIDNT EVER NEED ANYONE TO LOOK AFTER ME CA: i was totally fuckin fine my ambitions were noble

You see his contradictory nature with his stated love of history, which he only ever offhandedly mentions - because he's not actually that interested in history, it's just something that's expected of someone of his station. And you see it with his wavy accent, which he himself calls "weird" and drops when he's trying to be emotionally sincere. And you see it with his dumbass outfit, which is very clearly an imitation of Dualscar (with the only exception being the wizard-ass scarf, because wizards are his actual interest. I don't believe he likes fashion. I genuinely believe - and Eridan himself says so - that he basically has no hobbies outside of murder).

Even being proud to be a sea dweller is pretty much an outright lie:

CC: You can't )(ave t)(e sort of affinity for "our kind" t)(at you profess if you've only spent, w)(at... CC: A few days underwater, maybe? IN YOUR W)(OL-E LIF-E!

One that he tells because he's SCARED OF THE OCEAN. Because he knows what lives in the ocean, because he's been feeding it his entire life. I see a lot of people who give Eridan an interest in marine life, and I'm telling you, that's just got no basis in canon. He's fucking TERRIFIED of the sea.

And for that matter, land dweller genocide. Eridan doesn't want to do it. Both Feferi AND his internal narration call him out for not actually wanting to do it. He outright states he wouldn't kill his friends.

CA: wwell CA: im not goin to vvery wwell kill you am i that wwould be fuckin unconscionable CA: wwhat kind of friend wwould i be

But he feels like he HAS to want it, HAS to believe in it, HAS to be talking about it constantly, because that's what's expected from him as a sea dweller, and a sea dweller is ALL that he will get to be. The mutation that puts a violet streak in his hair is damning. It's a fate he feels like he can't escape. Which brings us to:

Eridan is Not Actually Casteist, Well He Is But Not Like That, It's Complicated

Secondary title: Those Are His Emotional Support Slurs, Okay

In the exact same vein (haha) as secretly not wanting all the land dwellers dead, Eridan also genuinely doesn't feel like he's better than lower blood castes. Vriska and Equius obviously put quite a bit of stock into being nobility, and both have acted superior to Karkat for it. Feferi actually revels in her high status, and while she is genuinely well-meaning, she's not as interested in abolishing casteism as she is in changing the meaning of "culling" specifically (the hemocaste, aristocracy, and casteism still very much exist in a Beforus under her rule). Gamzee MIGHT be the only highblood less casteist than Eridan, but then again, as soon as he snaps, he does say a lot of casteist stuff to Equius, although it's unclear how serious he is, and he also proceeds to get really into his weird highblood clown cult.

Meanwhile, Eridan - despite all his slurs and talk of genocide - does not actually try to "pull rank" on a lowblood for being a lower caste than him with a single exception. That exception is Sollux... after he's already shown having entirely caste-neutral opinions on Sollux:

CC: But Sollux finally came t)(roug)(, and now I believe t)(e full c)(ain is complete! CA: man that guy CA: hes a fuckin drama machine it is fuckin pathetic CC: YOUR STUPID FIS)(Y FAC-E IS T)(-E DRAMA MAC)(IN-E T)(AT DO-ES NOT)(ING BUT W)(IN-E AND GLUB. CC: 38P CA: fuck SORRY CC: Anyway you s)(ouldn't say t)(at about )(im, )(e is a )(ero and )(e saved my life. CA: yeah sorry

CA: my feelins seem petty and meaninless noww CA: she had better things to wworry about than my ovverwwrought bullshit CA: like the dead guy wwho savved her CA: so forget it thanks anywway

It's only AFTER he's mad at Sollux for dating Feferi that he starts going in on Sollux with casteist rhetoric... which is treated as unrequited flirting and not serious casteism:

ERIDAN: hey finless this doesnt concern those wwith mustard sludge slippin through their vveins ERIDAN: its a matter for royalty only ERIDAN: so keep your mouth closed or ill slit you open ovver my next meal SOLLUX: w/e bro, not iintere2ted. FEFERI: -Eridan, please! I don't want to see any more dueling. FEFERI: Don't try to provoke )(im. It's not like I don't know w)(at you're doing! You keep trying to spark a rivalry wit)( )(im to get me to auspisticize between you two, and pull us out of our quadrant! FEFERI: It is t)(e oldest and lamest trick in t)(e book. It didn't work t)(en and it won't work now!

THEY don't even think he's being casteist.

In fact, directly contradicting this earlier argument he has with Feferi:

CC: T)(is is t)(e last time I will say t)(is. CC: W-E AR-E NOT B-ETT-ER T)(AN ANYBODY!!!!! CC: GLUB. >38( CA: pshh CA: hemospectrum begs to differ

He OUTRIGHT states his real feelings here:

CA: im the biggest fuckin idiot who ever lived CA: i cant BELIEVE i just opened up to you like a chump when i knew what was comin CA: i am one sad fuckin brinesucker CA: overemotional sappy trash youre right im not better than anybody CA: im worse than anybody CA: EVERYBODY CA: all the bodies

So the question of "is Eridan casteist" has an answer of "kind of, but also no." Eridan DOES espouse the rhetoric; he's constantly saying stuff that a casteist sea dweller "should" be saying. However, if you look at his ACTIONS, and the way he actually treats people, he doesn't actually care about blood color. He'll hit on anybody, and he's rude as fuck to everybody. The real problem with him is that he's terrible to talk to, not that he's discriminatory.

That's the thing about Eridan. Understanding him means looking past the way he presents himself, the lies he tells to himself, and even, at times, the way the narration presents him. His "overblown emotional theatrics" seem a lot less overblown when his problems ARE so real, deep-seated, and constantly causing him an unimaginable amount of anguish.

The problem is, the main people he has to bounce those problems against are Feferi, Vriska, and Kanaya, three of the people most comfortable with their privileged positions, for whom Eridan's genuine emotional distress seems like needless melodrama. Feferi loves being a princess, Vriska enjoys her noble privileges, Kanaya doesn't need to worry about culling. But for Eridan, his noble status, and the duties and expectations placed on him for it, have caused him nothing but pain - of course he would feel like nobody understands. Most of his closest friends genuinely don't, nor do they try to.

Because that's what he is at his core - a traumatized fucking child, who doesn't see any way out. Eridan is not a casteist genocidal sea dweller... he just wishes he was one, and tries to be one, because if he actually was one, he wouldn't feel so awful and scared and sad all the time. He'd be normal, like his friends.

The reason he constantly spouts anti-land dweller rhetoric and uses casteist language is to assuage this cognitive dissonance. That's why he has to come off so strong, present himself in such an aggrandized way, act like such a douchebag. They're his emotional support slurs. He doesn't actually believe what he says, which means he's a Bad Sea Dweller, which means he's Failing, which means Something Bad Will Happen, so he'd better get his ass in line and say something casteist!

And it's all made worse because:

Eridan is Dumb of Ass (and True of Word)

Oh my god you guys he's so stupid that it hurts.

Okay, that's not entirely fair. Eridan is clearly well-educated and book smart; he has some of the most elegant prose out of the trolls, and he's prone to going off on insane rants with it. (Actually, his language gets more flowery and showy when he's trying to impress a stranger, and gets progressively more laid back, chill, and even kind of "bro"-y when he starts talking to people he doesn't feel like he needs to impress.)

CA: at this point i find all her adorable black pixie dabblins to be prime kiddie playtime shit CA: all of her FRAUDULENT MAGICS cannot come close to posin threat to my mastery ovver the TRUEST SCIENCES CA: an wwith my empiricists wwand i servve as the righteous hope that wwill incinerate delusion and the deluded alike CA: my holy fire is the wwhite fury bled from the wwrath-wweary eyes of fifty thousand nonfictional angels CA: and wwhen theyre finished wweepin they wwill boww before their prince GG: wow what are you talking about

What I mean is this: his brain is so full of anxiety and cognitive dissonance and murder and death that he struggles to care about other people, which has devastating effects on his social skills. I go really in-depth on how his though process informs his behavior here. The question may have popped up in your mind already: if his casteism stuff isn't actually real, then what is Eridan actually like? The answer is, overwhelmingly, and discomfortingly, SINCERE.

This boy is gunning at 100% emotional earnestness 100% of the time, and it's deeply uncomfortable for others to deal with. He'll swing wildly from insults and derogatory language, to stating a desire to kill all land dwellers, to awe and amazement at his friends' prowess, to demanding that they do things for him, to traumadumping and venting, without missing a beat. Often in the same conversation.

CA: kan its hard GA: What CA: being a kid and growwing up CA: its hard and nobody understands

He's also specifically terrible at parsing hostility. Functionally, he interprets all hostility aimed AT him as either pitch/ashen flirting or "ironic repartee," and similarly views his own hostile words as verbal jousting, pitch/ashen advances, or even just factual descriptions of the world around him (ie calling Nepeta a "kittycat shipper cavve girl"). Hostility and aggression are just kind of his baseline, default state of being, and he basically has no ability to differentiate between good and bad attention. I talk more in-depth about his emotionally bereft upbringing (and shitty lusus) here, but suffice to say that our boy isn't getting any emotional support at home, and as a result, craves attention, no matter what kind.

This also means he's insanely gullible. For example, Rose calls him an idiot to his face, and then blows up his computer, sarcastically calling it "your first lesson in showmanship." Eridan proceeds to literally considers it that, blowing up Jade's computer after he's done talking to her. Furthermore, Kanaya sees him as a burden, insults him to his face, and pretty much just bullies him along with Rose for fun.

So she trains Eridan to become a powerful white wizard of hope to challenge her, as a joke.

And yet, in spite of all that, Eridan still has nothing but gratitude and praise for Kanaya:

ERIDAN: kan i been meanin to thank you KANAYA: For What ERIDAN: for all that trainin you did ERIDAN: i wwouldnt be the incredible holy wwizard i am noww wwithout your help KANAYA: But I Didnt Even Really Train You I Just Made You A Wand ERIDAN: yeah wwell thats all i needed i guess ERIDAN: i just needed for someone to showw a little faith in me so im sayin thanks i owwe ya KANAYA: Okay Then Youre Welcome KANAYA: I Hope You Use Your Magnificent Powers Of Light And Hope For Goodness And Purity And Lets Not Forget Science ERIDAN: dont wworry im all ovver that shit you dont evven knoww KANAYA: Uh Oh I Hope That Didnt Come Off As Too Sarcastic ERIDAN: wwhat KANAYA: The Thing I Just Said KANAYA: I Didnt Even Realize How Sarcastic I Was Being Its Starting To Become A Problem I Think KANAYA: Please Dont Take Too Much Offense ERIDAN: haha damn kan if thats your idea of offense bein made then i honestly gotta fuckin wworry for you ERIDAN: tell you wwhat ill givve you some lessons in dealin out the dark umbrage to repay you for your tutelage in the wwhite science

Like, he's in the middle of genuinely thanking her for believing in him, she makes fun of him to his face, and his response is to laugh it off and offer to teach her how to properly insult someone. It's honestly... kind of sad. Not that he doesn't deserve the ridicule, but what we're seeing here is a traumatized, emotionally neglected boy trying to communicate the best that he can that he loves and appreciates his friends, and receiving nothing but mockery in return.

It's really not a surprise, then, that he goes off the deep end. His entire life prior to the game has been shit; he got broken up with as soon as he entered the game (by someone who didn't even care enough not to use fish puns while doing it); he's ostracized and avoided for the game's duration; and then he spends the rest of his time on the meteor being bullied. He feels deeply hopeless and anxious about their situation because he literally doesn't know how else to exist, and his concerns are dismissed and mocked at every turn. When Feferi turns on him with intent to kill, that's his breaking point.

I see a lot of people say he goes grimdark, or succumbs to external influence somehow, but I don't think that needs to be true (nor is it) - he's just a deeply traumatized kid with almost no support network who's finally been pushed to the edge, despite displaying every possible warning sign and making multiple cries for help. Yes, ultimately, he's guilty for his own actions, but his killing spree - alongside Gamzee's and Vriska's - represents a cohesive failure as a team to address very clear problems in their midst.

So Feferi and Kanaya are sick of his ass. Sollux hates him platonically, Equius doesn't like him, and Nepeta thinks of him as a creep. Vriska is his awkward ex, and Terezi agrees with him when he calls himself pathetic. He never interacts with Tavros, Aradia, or sober!Gamzee. Is there anyone that treats him nicely?

Uh, okay, so I swear this isn't shipping goggles -

Pale EriKar Is Canon And I Can Prove It

So, I'm going to start this with a disclaimer: you can ship what you want to ship. I don't mind. I don't care. Headcanons are valid, death of the author, etc. What you do in your free time is up to you.

What I am attempting to argue in this section is that an Eridan/Karkat moirallegiance was heavily foreshadowed, one of the most heavily foreshadowed things in the entire comic, and - assuming that the original ending of Homestuck included all the dead trolls being brought back and redeemed - was going to be endgame. There's a torrential amount of evidence pointing to this, and very little of it is acknowledged even by the EriKar shippers, which is a shame.

At the very least, I'll be happy if I can convince some Karkat RPers to be extra nice to Eridans, because they are actually just friends who care deeply about each other. Canonically.

The first thing to note is that Eridan and Karkat, at least prior to SGRUB, talk all the time, to the point where Feferi feels the need to comment on it:

CC: You know, I'm not sure w)(y we never talk about our romantic aspirations. CC: We s)(ould more often. It is kind of -EXCITING! CA: shrug CC: Probably because you fill your gossip quota wit)( your nubby )(orned bro. CC: You leave not)(ing left to talk about wit)( your dear sweet moirail! CC: We are supposed to )(elp eac)( ot)(er wit)( t)(at stuff too, remember. CA: maybe CA: seems kinda CA: odd though

("Can you please stop having an emotional affair with Karkat" "Eh, I'll think about it")

The second thing to note is what the contents of those conversations entail. Sure, they "gossip," but it goes deeper than that, because they gossip about things that Karkat would NEVER gossip about with anybody else, because Karkat usually respects his "VERY GOOD FRIEND"s. For example, here Eridan mentions that Karkat has speculated on Kanaya's love life with him:

CA: you dont wwant to be our auspistice cause you dont wwant to get locked into that sort of relation wwith her i can respect that GA: No Thats Not It CA: yeah it is your real feelins run pretty awwful RUDDY methinks evverybody knowws it CA: especially that assblood karkat he and me havve you so pegged about that its upright silly

And it's not even a one-off thing, because here Karkat is again, mentioning Nepeta's crush on him:

KARKAT: OK, BUT TO BE FAIR, I'M PRETTY SURE SHE'S STILL OBSESSED WITH ME. KARKAT: IT'S A VERY UNFORTUNATE, VERY RED AND VERY UNREQUITED SITUATION I'VE BEEN TRYING TO TIPTOE AROUND FOR A LONG TIME, OK? KARKAT: HER DISINTEREST IN YOUR ADVANCE WASN'T A REFLECTION ON YOU AT ALL. KARKAT: COME ON, WE TALKED ABOUT THIS.

It's a situation he's been trying to "tiptoe around for a long time," and he tells ERIDAN, of all people? MULTIPLE TIMES? (AND HE ALSO TELLS ERIDAN THAT THE REJECTION WASN'T HIS FAULT???? WHAT??????)

So we've established that they talk frequently and about some pretty seriously sensitive topics. But did you know that they also talk about... their feelings?

See, the thing is, Karkat has always been weirdly nice to Eridan. Here he is in a memo near the very beginning of their game, when Karkat is at his most "rah rah, I'm the big bad leader":

FCA: i got a problem FCA: wwith feferi FCA: and im really kinda sittin here in bad shape about it emotionally speakin CCG: OK, WELL CCG: I GET THAT, I HEAR YOU BRO CCG: BUT THIS IS STILL NOT THE RIGHT PLACE FOR THIS SO I'VE GOT TO BAN YOU. CCG banned FCA from responding to memo. CCG: BUT SERIOUSLY JUST GET IN TOUCH WITH ME IN PRIVATE ABOUT IT, OK MAN? CCG: WE'LL GET YOUR SHIT STRAIGHTENED OUT.

Compare that to Tavros asking for advice later down in the same memo:

PAT: sINCE i DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE NOW, bUT MAYBE HELP ME, PAT: aBOUT A THING THAT HAS TO DO WITH A GIRL, PAT: lIKE, PAT: a ROMANCE THING, yOU MIGHT KNOW ABOUT, CCG: YOU PEOPLE ARE IMBECILES. CCG: ALL OF YOU. CCG: I AM NOT POSTING THESE MEMOS TO COUNSEL YOU ON YOUR PAST AND FUTURE DATING PROBLEMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CCG: WHY ARE YOU ALL SUCH BASKET CASES. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY ANYMORE. PAT: sORRY, CCG: SHOULD I BAN YOU? WHAT'S EVEN THE POINT ANYMORE! ONE OF YOU STOOGES WILL BE RIGHT ON THE LAST ONES HEELS WITH ANOTHER SOB STORY. CCG: JUST CCG: HURRY UP AND TELL ME WHAT YOUR PROBLEM IS BRO.

He then proceeds to dispense no actual love advice; he just points out that Vriska can totally read this memo too, and then mocks them both when she shows up - thus making it clear that he is giving Eridan special treatment.

You see it again in his discussion with Eridan in [S] Kanaya: Return to the Core, where Eridan invokes a "pact" between them, and Karkat immediately plays nice with him, despite himself being extremely high-strung and stressed out:

KARKAT: RIGHT, IT'S POWERED BY SCIENCE, I FORGOT. KARKAT: OR HOPE. WHATEVER THE FUCK THAT MEANS. ERIDAN: i dont fuckin need this from you i take enough shit as it is from the rest a you dirtscrapers i thought you and me had a kinda pact or wwhatevver KARKAT: OK FINE, SHUT UP, I APOLOGIZE. I KNOW IT'S TOUGH BEING YOU.

That's definitely pity, which Karkat states to be the basis of all relationships besides pitch. But, sure, okay, Karkat is sometimes nice to his friends. He is, after all, the Friendship Troll, so that's not necessarily out of the ordinary. But how about the fact that it goes both ways?

That's right, Eridan "100% aggro 100% of the time" Ampora is actually really considerate toward Karkat's feelings, and basically nobody else's. Upon hearing that Karkat is distressed that Sollux has died, Eridan actively puts his own meltdown about his breakup with Feferi on pause:

TC: BeCaUsE OuR GoOd bRo sOlLuX JuSt kIcKeD ThE WiCkEd mOtHeRfUcKiN ShIt CA: wwhat the fuck do you mean by that CA: are you sayin hes dead TC: YeAh :o( CA: oh fuck CA: oh god fuck noww i feel like an asshole

He then goes on to chastise Gamzee for his shitty advice, demanding to be given the chance to comfort Karkat himself instead:

TC: BuT I ToLd hIm tO Be cHiLl TC: BeCaUsE ThErE Is a mIrAcLe cOmInG, i cAn fEeL It CA: that is the wworst fuckin advvice CA: wwhat an awwful thing a you to say CA: MAGIC ISNT REAL STUPID STOP BELIEVVIN IN IT TC: i'Ve gOt tO BeLiEvE At wHaT My hEaRt tElLs iN Me, EvEn iF It's a fAkE ThInG TC: HoNk CA: this is a lot a pointless fuckin rubbish and isnt no emotional help to him or me either for that matter CA: put kar on

Before finally giving up when Gamzee insists he's "too scared of Jack" to help, drinking some Faygo, and trying to ask past Karkat for help, because past Karkat isn't sad yet about Sollux dying. So, to recap,

Eridan's first instinct when in emotional duress is to go to Karkat.

Eridan feels like he knows Karkat well enough to know that Gamzee's advice would be useless (and is proven right by the fact that Gamzee and Karkat's moirallegiance fails for similar reasons).

Eridan is willing to shelve his own emotional meltdown for Karkat's sake.

Eridan demands to be the one to provide Karkat with emotional support.

And this is, again, not a one-off thing. In the memo Karkat opens right after Eridan and Gamzee have both turned murderous, after he's spent several minutes making death threats toward Eridan and insulting him directly, he goes:

CCG: I'M SO UPSET, I'M JUST COMPLETELY FREAKING OUT IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE. PCA: yeah i knoww wwhat its like you wwanna talk about it

Eridan spends this entire memo under the belief that it's a completely run-of-the-mill conversation they're having:

PCA: i mean yeah obvviously i kneww you wwerent serious PCA: i guess i appreciate the effort youre puttin into cheerin me up PCA: i can alwways count on you for some good ironic repartee kar nobody else really gets our sense a humor CCG: UGH, NO PCA: are you busy PCA: you said youd try to make it to lowwaa soon wwell howw about it

Which implies that offering to listen to Karkat's feelings is also a completely regular thing for them.

But something magical is ALSO happening within this last memo, and to really explain it, I'll first have to be a little mean to the GamKar shippers (sorry).

So, canonically, GamKar doesn't work out for them, despite also being somewhat foreshadowed. In fact, they feature on Nepeta's shipping wall, which is actually, in my opinion, foreshadowing that it WOULDN'T work out. (Nepeta's ships being wrong, and shipping being something she needs to learn to outgrow, is a whole essay on its own, that I'm not getting into here.)

But the thing is, the seeds for them not working out were also planted in the first - and only - real post-moirallegiance interaction that they have with each other, where Gamzee tries to calm Karkat down... and FAILS:

GAMZEE: naw brother, i was just about to all say for you to try and get your settle down on, maybe. GAMZEE: :o( ... KARKAT: OK KARKAT: OK YEAH KARKAT: I GUESS YOU'RE RIGHT. KARKAT: NO, YOU'RE RIGHT, I SHOULD RELAX. KARKAT: AND BREATHE. KARKAT: I MEAN, WHAT ARE MOIRAILS FOR, RIGHT? KARKAT: THIS IS HOW IT WORKS, I STOP YOU FROM KILLING EVERYBODY, THEN YOU RETURN THE FAVOR AND CALM ME DOWN AND I JUST KARKAT: BREATHE KARKAT: LIKE KARKAT: THIS... KARKAT: SNIIIIIIIIIIIIFFFFFFFFFFFFFUCK, THAT SUN IS BRIGHT. KARKAT: CALL ME CRAZY, BUT IT'S KIND OF HARD TO RELAX WITHIN A STONE'S THROW FROM, OH, I GUESS ONLY THE BIGGEST FUCKING STAR ANY MORTAL HAS EVER LAID EYES ON. ... KARKAT: BUT I MEAN, CAN THIS BE HEALTHY? KARKAT: AREN'T WE GOING TO GET BURNED OR HAVE OUR RETINAS SCORCHED BY LOOKING AT IT? KARKAT: OH GOD I THINK I'M HAVING A PANIC ATTACK.

But let's go back to that memo where Karkat is freaking out in every way possible. This is how he starts that memo - so upset about the deaths of his friends and terrified by Gamzee that he can barely string together a coherent thought:

CCG: WE ARE SO SCREWED. CCG: OH FUCK OH FUCK OH FUCK. CCG: GUYS, I AM TERRIFIED, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. CCG: I'M IN A ROOM FULL OF BODIES, AND I THINK I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO TURN MY BACK ON THEM? CCG: OH MY GOD, I JUST HEARD A HONK. ... CCG: FEFERI, I'M SORRY. CCG: IT WAS MY FAULT, I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. PCC: Sorry for w)(at?? CCG: FOR CCG: I CCG: I CAN'T DO THIS CCG: IT'S TOO MUCH FOR ME, I'M SORRY.

In fact, he's so distressed that he bans Past!Feferi and Past!Gamzee almost immediately after they come in. But then Eridan comes in, and... I mean, first of all, just compare how long it takes for him to ban Eridan:

But more interesting are the contents of their conversation. Over the course of talking to Eridan... Karkat completely calms the fuck down. Like he's entirely forgotten that he's shitting his pants with fear. In fact, he even starts critiquing Eridan for his dumbassery:

PCA: evven if i wwasnt compelled to think you wwere still bein flippant and ironic wwith me you cant exactly outright reject me can you CCG: WHY NOT PCA: cause youre future you PCA: doesnt count unless its present you til then its all fair game CCG: IS THIS REAL, ARE YOU BEING IRONIC OR SOMETHING, I CAN'T EVEN TELL ANYMORE CCG: THE PROBLEM IS, I CAN'T PUT THIS SORT OF BEHAVIOR PAST YOU AT ALL, SO I DON'T KNOW. ... CCG: YOU'RE KILLING ANGELS NOW, AREN'T YOU PCA: no CCG: YOU ARE KILLING FUCKING ANGELS, RIGHT NOW, IN THE PAST, WITH YOUR SHITTY GUN. I JUST KNOW IT. PCA: wwell uh PCA: therere just so damn many kar and theyre not gettin any less bloody pissed is the thing CCG: THIS IS WHY IT WOULD NEVER WORK BETWEEN US, MAN.

It's extremely funny. Over the course of talking to Eridan, he goes from:

CCG: OH GOD OH GOD OH MAN OH GOD CCG: NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

To:

CCG banned PCA from responding to memo. CCG: ANYWAY CCG: THAT'S IT I GUESS.

Eridan isn't even trying to calm Karkat down. He still succeeds in doing so. This is because they are soul mates. And I mean that in the sense that the comic literally calls being moirails soul mates, which it doesn't do for the other quadrants:

A reasonable human translation would be the concept of a soul mate, but in a more platonic sense, and with a more specific social purpose.

That "social purpose" being that an even-tempered troll calms down a more hot-tempered one, and vice versa.

It also goes on to note:

But some pale pairings, as the one above [referring to a picture of Nepeta and Equius], will be strikingly obvious to all who know them.

But what's really interesting is the next page.

And yet others will seem to have been hatched for each other.

Did you catch that? Let me zoom in.

(Also, the blue and red cuttlefish to represent Sollux - Feferi and Sollux spend the whole game together, and even wind up talking about their feelings constantly in a pile - more on piles in a sec.)

In fact... in Eridan's first visual appearance...

The crab has always been there for him.

It's also important to talk about the bottle of Faygo that's been photoshopped to be candy red, Karkat's blood color. The path that it takes actually directly mirrors Karkat's relationships with Gamzee and Eridan - it's initially something that Gamzee has, but winds up being ejected out of his life, and washes up on Eridan's shore. In fact:

TC: SnAtCh aN IcEcOlD, dOg TC: MoThErFuCkIn cHuG ThAt sHiT LiKe yOu aNd tHe bOtTlE WaS ReUnItEd lOvErS CA: are you recommendin a bevverage to me or somethin CA: is that wwhat this is TC: YeAh mAn SlAm A FaYgO CA: i dont havve a fuckin faygo you stupid fuck wwhy wwould i keep that disgusting shit on hand TC: ArE YoU MoThErFuCkIn sUrE AbOuT ThAt? CA: oh CA: oh god youre right i do CA: i totally forgot about it TC: YoU SeE MaN TC: MoThEr TC: FuCkIn TC: MiRaClEs TC: :o)

When Gamzee and Eridan discuss this exact bottle, Gamzee even likens it to "reunited lovers"; it's something that Eridan has had this whole time (after all, he was cheating on Feferi with the guy), but never realized.

There are a few miscellaneous things that don't really mean anything on their own, but put next to all this other stuff, is worth considering, so I'll list those now.

First, they both do the bonk:

Second:

CG: ARE WE NOT FRIENDS ANYMORE BECAUSE OF STUFF I SAID. TA: eheheheh you LIITERALLY a2k me that every tiime are you jokiing. TA: ii cant even tell anymore. CG: IT'S A JOKE MORON. CG: HONESTLY I'M JUST GLAD NOBODY ELSE IS PRIVVY TO OUR CONVERSATIONS.

Third, Karkat muses to his future self about how he misses his friends, especially the assholes, two pages before staring at a dead Eridan's ass (joking, he's definitely looking at WV, but it's still significant that this thought is being associated with Eridan):

CCG: I MEAN, DON'T GET ME WRONG. CCG: I MISS ALL OF MY DEAD FRIENDS A LOT. CCG: EVEN THE ASSHOLES! I MISS THEM TOO. MAYBE EVEN ESPECIALLY THEM, IN SOME PERVERSE WAY. CCG: AND I SHOULD BE RELIEVED THAT THEY ALL SEEM TO BE HAPPY IN SOME WAY, EVEN IF IT'S BY FLOATING NEBULOUSLY THROUGH DREAM PROJECTIONS WITH THEIR FREAKY BLANK EYES. CCG: AND I GUESS I AM RELIEVED ABOUT THAT. CCG: BUT AT THE SAME TIME IT'S LEFT ME UNSETTLED.

Fourth, in the same conversation, he bemoans his failed relationship with Terezi, before Future!Karkat chastises Past!Karkat for his instability and mixed signals. Going back to the page on moirallegiances, an explicit function of a proper pale relationship is stabilizing a troll's other relationships:

The two partners in a strong pale relationship will serve to balance and complement each other's emotional profiles, and thus allow their other relationships to be more successful.

Of course, I don't need to tell you how messy and unstable Eridan's relationships have been.

And finally, Piles of Stuff™ are associated with moirails, and directly stated in-comic to cause an outpouring of emotion:

Standing near this pile stirs powerful emotions. The closer you stand to piles of stuff, the more freely the feelings flow. It is a law of reality.

So here's a seven-word tragedy for you: For Sale, Shitty Wand Pile, Never Used:

ERIDAN: at least i got the upright basic decency to hide my shitty wand pile somewwhere in the lab you wwont find it dont evven bother lookin KARKAT: WHY DO YOU ASSHOLES HAVE PILES OF THINGS, JUST STOP.

(Which he specifically tells Karkat about.)

So, yeah, what I'm saying is, there's just, like, a weirdly large amount to read into here. That Karkat and Eridan are probably soulmates or whatever. And that this is important because...

Eridan Is Plot Relevant (Well All The Dead Trolls Are But This Is An Essay About Eridan)

So. Now we are going to talk about themes. Yes, like we are in schoolfeeding again. I'm going to keep it simple, because "The Themes of Homestuck" is a whole essay on its own, and this one about just the shitty fish boy is already way too long.

I think it's fairly non-controversial to posit that the main theme of Homestuck is, "children should mature, care about each other, and throw off the shackles of their old society, because they will be responsible for a new world one day."

Up until Game Over/the Retcon, this is so prevalent and well-established that SBURB/SGRUB's coming-of-age themes will outright be commented upon by the characters, and the main villain is a child who deliberately stunted his own growth so he could go around kicking over other peoples' toys forevermore.

So, the thing is, with that being the theme of Homestuck, if ALL of the Alternian trolls don't survive to the end, the ending is thematically unsatisfying, because the message suddenly gains an addendum of "well, some kids just need to die," which totally sucks. Like, sure, Eridan was a violent, crazed murderer even at the best of times, but his permanent death within the canon ending kind of means that the comic is saying that people in his position don't deserve kindness or second chances. That position being a traumatized, emotionally neglected child, who was being bullied by people he considered his friends. It's a pretty terrible message.

It's even worse when you consider what other trolls don't make it to the end - Nepeta, the most outspoken troll against the hemospectrum (and Davepeta does NOT count, don't try to tell me the final culmination of Nepeta's character arc is being combined with some guy she barely knows and a bird). Feferi, who genuinely wanted the best for others, even if she was kind of a privileged princess. Aradia and Sollux also stay behind in the bubbles, even though their lives have pretty much been endless parades of suffering and being used by other people. Even Equius doesn't deserve it - he was kind of a casteist freak, but not irredeemably so, and the fact that he became kinder to Karkat over the course of SGRUB proved that he had the capacity to change. And Tavros, allergic to himself and being insulted by Vriska, is a terrible way to end his arc.

It's also really clear that, since half his friends are dead, Karkat just doesn't really have anything to do. His title is the Knight of Blood, and Blood is about bonds - romance, friendship. And yet, he ends the comic having never figured out what Blood was about, with no confirmed filled quadrants (sorry DaveKat likers, but within the comic itself, DaveKat is never confirmed), and most of his bonds nothing more than ghosts in the bubbles. It's a terribly unsatisfying ending for the most narratively important troll.

I think, then, that even if you don't agree that Homestuck should have ended with full revivals and redemption arcs for all the trolls, the essay is going to proceed on like you do, so, sorry, I guess.

The thing with Eridan, specifically, is that he's actually tied deeply into the plot and themes, and his return means more than just Karkat finally getting a date (although that's important, too). Eridan is directly intertwined with a prophecy to kill Lord English; he's set up to mirror Caliborn and Calliope; and thematically, his redemption would be the most clear instance of the "interrogating society" part of the theme of Homestuck, because Eridan is kind of the Society Troll. And also, he was definitely supposed to be Roxy's wizard boyfriend.

Just gonna get that last one out of the way real quick because it's a fast one, Roxy fucking loves wizards and is a hipster. Eridan is a wizard and is also a hipster. Roxy has a crush on a prince. Eridan is also a prince. Roxy wears a purple striped scarf. Eridan wears a blue striped scarf. Roxy uses rifles. Eridan uses rifles. Momlonde's introduction includes a passive-aggressive fridge battle that features a cameo of Eridan's quirk.

Using the colorful MAGNET LETTERS, you recently left a succinct message, which may or may not have been directed toward anyone in particular. But you couldn't find the letter W, so you just stuck two V's together. Your mother then purchased a fresh pack of W's and left them there for your convenience.

Yeah. So. Uh. Not only did Eridan need to be brought back to date Karkat pale, but he also needed to be brought back to date Roxy flushed. Can you imagine how funny it would be. They'd get together within 5 minutes of meeting for the first time and Rose would lose her shit. Anyway.

Him being a parallel to Calliope and Caliborn is also a quick one - Caliborn uses Riflekind/Sceptrekind, and Calliope uses Pistolkind/Wandkind. Eridan's two weapons are rifles and wands. Lord English is described as an evil wizard and at one point is shown using Calliope's wand. Eridan is also an evil wizard who uses a wand.

Look, I'm not saying that Eridan is necessarily directly related to these two, nor am I even necessarily saying that he and Roxy HAVE to date, but I am saying that he's got Weird Plot Connections that make him bizarrely relevant to characters that only come into play well after his death - almost like the comic was setting up that he would be coming back. His reaction to Cronus supports this, which I go into detail about here.

There's other strange "Eridan's plot important" things, too - like the fact that he's completely unimpressed by Faygo, considering it to be "just soda," and seems to be the only non-cultist who's okay with it. Or the fact that he's actually been awake on Derse since before the game (but unable to hear the horrorterrors, maybe foreshadowing some psychic resistance?) which he casually reveals to Kanaya and which Terezi is aware of, hence he's included in the people she names are "in" on the existence of the game. Or the fact that the genetic code for Alternia's first guardian was written within the pages of four FLARP books, with the addition of a fifth code Gamzee wrote in Karkat's ~ATH book... but Eridan was the fifth FLARP player in the team, implying that Doc Scratch/LE influencing Gamzee caused him to usurp Eridan's part of the first guardian code, giving LE his way into the trolls' universe.

Individually, it's all kind of nothing, but it just paints a bigger picture of Eridan being weirdly relevant, especially when we get to the juicy stuff:

The Prophecy

ARANEA: The 8ard of Hope may seem a little jaded these days, 8ut he once had a deeply a8iding faith in magic, and dedicated himself to 8ecoming a great wizard. He 8ecame convinced he was hatched to defeat an extraordinarily evil magician, one he swore the angels foretold of. ... [T]his magician once somehow from afar tried to strike him down at a young age, so he would never have to face him. 8ut the evil spell was deflected, sealing the magician's spirit away in a series of unassuming vessels until he could find some other cunning way to enter our universe. ... ARANEA: 8ut at some point he 8ecame disillusioned with magic. If there ever was any truth to his far fetched vision, the legacy of defeating the evil magician would have to 8e passed on to his descendant, or if his descendant proved to 8e as much of a failure as he did, then perhaps on to some other Hero of Hope.

ERIDAN: i slaughtered enough angels to knoww my limits and wwhere i stand against the lord of all angels they prophecized

GG: im pretty sure hes from the future! CA: wwhy GG: because he said hes my grandson CA: wwhat the fuck is a grandson CA: is that some kind of pervverse human familial thing GG: umm yes ... CA: that gun i just gavve you is somethin of a hatchright to the kid CA: happy i could play a role in your dirty stinkin lineage GG: like an heirloom? i guess it could be ... CA: i kinda think thats wwhy i found the gun in the first place CA: but noww im forsakin it because fuck i just found a better destiny than my old crappy one wwhich i nevver got any appreciation for anywway

Jake is supposed to have been the one to defeat Lord English. (No, Jake defeating pre-LE Caliborn right before he gets sealed into Cal doesn't count! He doesn't even get the final blow in that fight, DIRK does.)

But Eridan at one point had that destiny on his shoulders. Aranea turbohealing Jake, and the resultant hope field, summons a bunch of angels, which are heavily associated with Eridan - yet another random connection that Eridan has with future plot events.

Jake was another character, alongside Karkat, who was kind of reduced to a joke by the end, despite the fact that he had literally, directly, been passed the destiny of defeating Lord English. It's hard not to see this as a consequence, at least in part, of removing Eridan from the story. By cutting him out of the fabric of the ending, several plot threads - including this prophecy - are left dangling in irrelevance. And so Jake, like Karkat, now has nothing to do.

Homestuck is generally a series where every prophecy does come true, which makes it kind of startling when several prophecies fail to - Feferi's to "unite the two races," Jake's to defeat Lord English, and Karkat's to bring "compassion, forgiveness, and equality among all bloodlines" in the Signless's place.

That last one is actually relevant to:

The Thematic Importance of EriKar As Soul Mates

Eridan represents the worst aspects of Alternian society. He's a sea dweller at the top of the caste structure, with free reign to murder whoever he wants, soaked in the blood of thousands of innocent trolls. He espouses the casteist rhetoric that their society is built on, calling for the deaths of all land dwellers and the oppression of the lower castes. And while he should be benefitting from his position of privilege, it has also done nothing but hurt him.

Karkat, meanwhile, is a pariah. A mutant who would've been culled on sight, who spent his entire life living in hiding, and most of the game in fear that he would be ostracized or worse by the rest of his friends if they found out about his blood color. He's also the second coming of Troll Jesus, and thus, more despised by the Alternian ruling class than a mutant normally would be. For most of his life, he dreamed of nothing more than finding belonging within the society that had deemed him unfit.

Their friendship is something that "should not be." The highblood and the mutant. The royal-v and the off-spectrum. The empress's sea dweller and the second coming of the signless. Eridan "should" see Karkat as a miscreant to cull on sight. Karkat "should" be terrified of Eridan's very existence.

But in reality, Eridan doesn't give a shit about blood color, and Karkat just wants to be accepted. Eridan just wants someone to care about him, and Karkat loves his friends. Aside from Feferi, Eridan is the only highblood who never comments about Karkat's mutant blood, and they were best buddies even before Eridan knew.

Eridan and Karkat getting together isn't JUST the two most undateable trolls on the team finally landing a stable quadrant. These two, moreso than any other pairing, represent the themes of Homestuck. Children growing up, caring about each other, and throwing off the shackles of their old society.

In the pre-retcon timeline, their team failed to do so. This led to Gamzee falling into his highblood clown cult, Equius letting himself and Nepeta die by submitting to his place in the hemospectrum, Vriska killing Tavros because she couldn't allow herself to show weakness, and Eridan completing his caste's dream of genocide. Karkat spent the entire meteor trip and beyond beating himself up about it, since he considered it all to be his fault.

But with the introduction of John's retcon powers, they have the chance to, one by one, redeem themselves. I believe that's how the original ending would have gone: Terezi would ask John to bring Vriska back, because she only feels comfortable fixing her own mistakes. Vriska would then have asked John to bring back Tavros, whom she regretted killing. Tavros would be there for Gamzee, rendering him an ally. Gamzee would ask John to bring back Equius and Nepeta. Equius would ask John to help him not make the same mistakes with Aradia, and Aradiabot would catch John by the wrist and demand he bring her back in time to before she died, allowing her to circumvent her own death and Sollux's guilt. Sollux would ask John to keep him from provoking Eridan, saving Feferi. And Feferi would be pretty ok with the way things were... but KARKAT would then pull John aside, and drop an entire book of mistakes he made on John's lap, and this would result in a finalized timeline where all his friends are alive and god-tiered.

Because all the trolls SHOULD have survived.

Vriska should've survived because people should be allowed to have second chances.

Tavros should've survived because caring about each other, and being willing to show kindness and mercy, are good things.

Gamzee should have survived because people mired in religious fundamentalism and cults deserve to be offered a helping hand.

Equius should've survived because people should be allowed to grow and change their beliefs.

Nepeta should've survived because she was the anti-casteism troll. Casteism is bad, folks! Not only that, but I'm convinced that she was originally going to give the Ultimate Self exposition, and Davepetasprite^2 had to be contrived in the canon ending in order to shortcut Nepeta's character development, ruining it in the process.

Aradia should've been allowed to stay with the rest of the team and live a life free of the control of evil uncles and shitty ancestors.

Sollux should've been allowed to stay with the rest of the team because we all deserve to heal and be happy.

Feferi should've survived so she could be in a kismesistude with Nepeta, and realize that casteism itself is bad, not just the definition of culling, and then used her Witch of Life powers to even out the lifespans between the next generation of trolls, which needs to happen or else casteism will just happen again as long-lived highbloods inevitably amass power. And, also, it would complete the prophecy Gl'bgolyb gave her that she was intended to unite the two races (dream bubbles don't count, because by that metric, Sollux did more than she did by establishing a connection between the trolls and humans).

And Eridan should've survived, because the harm society has done to us can be undone. We don't have to submit to the roles it imposes, to the laws it wrote, to the abuse it inflicted. We can be free.

I've seen a lot of people who believe that such-and-such character did SUCH awful things that they don't deserve a happy ending. Oftentimes, it's Eridan, but nearly all of the dead trolls have gotten this treatment. So, let me just ask all of you who have gotten this far and still hold that opinion one thing. Do you think that's what Troll Jesus would have wanted?

This is why pale EriKar is so important: for it to happen, Eridan has to make a choice between upholding the beliefs of his shitty society, or pursuing a happier, kinder future, one where he outright rejects the caste system. For it to happen, Karkat has to shake all his insecurities about not being good enough by Alternian standards, and take on the duty of creating something better than what he came from. If pale EriKar happens, it means Eridan and Karkat choose love, not fear. Compassion, forgiveness, and equality.

This choice - this pairing - is the ultimate representation of giving Alternian society one big middle finger. Saying, we don't need you anymore, fuck off! Saying, we reject you at your core; we will choose something better! Saying, we will create a new world, and it will be kinder than the one we came from!

Pale EriKar means LOVE WINS.

Thank you for reading.

#homestuck #eridan ampora #karkat vantas #erikar #im also going to tag all the other trolls that feature because yeah.#vriska serket #feferi peixes #nepeta leijon #equius zahhak #gamzee makara #kanaya maryam

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awearywritersworld · 6 months

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there can be no covenants between men and lions

ryomen sukuna x reader summary: sukuna would rather contemplate your murder than come to terms with his feelings for you, but you call him out on his bullshit. w/c: 3k tags/warnings: enemies to lovers. angst to fluff. aged up!yuuji. heavy kissing. features yuuji x reader and he is, of course, best boy. cursing. sukuna decides he wants to kill you (so obviously there are mentions of murder and such) but cant even stand the sight of you upset, what a goof. i'd once again like to think sukuna's not too ooc in this but im still more than likely delusional. not canon compliant. fem!reader. no use of y/n. no manga spoilers. a/n: i was so touched by all of the love that part one received, i wanted to try my hand at part two. i hope i've done it justice! just as part one references homer's the odyssey, this references homer's the illiad because sukuna is very hot and well read. achilles, the protagonist of the novel, is discussed. i'm definitely open to writing a part three, because this one is much heavier on the angst and i miss soft sukuna from part one. series masterlist // masterlist

you and yuuji rarely argue, but when you do, it's often over his aversion toward seriousness, even when a situation calls for it. though you really should have kept your mouth shut, because in this moment, you'd give anything to see his typical carefree expression.

his eyes are regarding you intently, taking in your flustered appearance with knitted brows.

"yuuji..." you trail off, wracking your brain for an explanation of your current predicament.

despite the fact he regained control of his body only moments ago, one of his hands is curled around the back of your neck, while the other is resting on your hip.

"baby, what happened?" he presses, the tone of his voice entirely unreadable.

"s-sukuna," is all you can manage to choke out.

his eyes darken immediately, his jaw tensing in a way that intimidates you. "he hurt you."

you really can't tell if it's a question or a statement, and your response comes a little too quickly. "no! that's not... no."

the next few seconds tick by in a slow sort of agony, heat creeping up your cheeks.

he notices for the first time that his head is eerily quiet. no snide remarks, no scathing commentary. just his own thoughts as he pieces together the situation.

his gaze drops to the angry, red marks littering your neck and you watch in helpless horror as understanding passes his features.

"oh."

the word hangs in the air as you await his reaction, fully anticipating disgust and betrayal. you're positive it's only a matter of time before he throws you out of the apartment and tells you to never come back.

what you don't expect, however, is the way his shoulders relax as the tension leaves his face.

he straightens himself, arms falling to his sides, but he doesn't put any distance between your bodies.

"how long have you...?" he's not quite sure how to phrase the question.

"a few months. this was the first time anything... um... happened. we usually just talk."

he tilts his head to the side, so you clarify. "after you've fallen asleep."

mulling over the information, he hums in response, looking thoughtful for a few more seconds. then, his usual demeanor is back and he grabs your hand. "wanna get dinner? i'm starving!"

he tugs you a few feet toward the door before you come to your senses. "woah, woah. wait a second, yu."

when he looks back at you expectantly, you find that his face holds not one hint of bitterness or judgement. "aren't you angry?"

you're amazed to find that he's the one looking sheepish.

"how could i be? it's not exactly easy to be with me when i have a thousand year old curse rattling around in my body, but you stay anyway," he expresses, making your heart soften. "i just want you to be safe, so i'll take whatever relationship the two of have now over him being a threat to you."

as your hands reach up to cradle his face and your eyes sparkle with adoration, you briefly wonder how you ever found such a sweet man. he places a quick kiss to your lips, the smile on his face easy going as ever. "sooooo, i'm thinking takoyaki or maybe udon—"

"we can get whatever you want," you glance at the spatters of blood across his chest left there from the mission, no doubt from sukuna's careless slaughter. "as long as you go wash up first."

"right!" he agrees quickly, bounding off to the bathroom.

you stand alone in the middle of your living room, left with the ghost of both yuuji and sukuna's lips against yours and a sense of bewildered excitement.

back in his prison, however, sukuna is furious with himself. he should have let you die that day he kept you from being run over. better yet, he should have killed you with his own hands before the brat won back control of his body.

he is a terrible being that delights in carnage, a fact that's well known even centuries later. so why, when he could have done anything in the world, did he go to you? you even asked that same question before you—

he rejects the memory of you pressing your lips to his disdainfully.

your foolishness and your naivete are revolting. your softness and your pliancy are nauseating.

he shouldn't have been anywhere near you, if not to rip your obnoxious heart from your chest like he'd always planned. it was a situation he'd dreamt about and now it's slipped through his fingers, even though those same fingers had graced your fragile little neck.

you were nothing more than a clueless mouse in the jaws of a snake, and though the pains of hunger have been tearing at its stomach for years now, the serpent let itself starve.

sukuna retreats to his domain, fingers prodding at his temples irritably. he allows himself to wallow for a few hours, shutting out both you and the brat.

then, steeling his resolve, he begins to watch and wait like the predator he knows himself to be.

lulled into a false sense of security regarding your safety, it's clear that yuuji has let his guard down. just barely so, but enough that sukuna can see a few weaknesses in his chains. ironic seeing that, now more than ever, the king of curses wants you dead.

it goes without saying that he promptly ceases his nightly interactions with you. it's beneath him, wasting his time with a human. he knows that now.

but while he may not speak to you, he cannot refrain from stealing glances as the days stretch on. you're usually reading, completely oblivious to his watchful eye. he convinces himself it's simply to keep tabs on you, as he's deemed you his foremost enemy.

he's not sure how much time has passed when you begin calling out for him in hushed whispers after yuuji falls asleep, the hurt and confusion in your voice plain to him. it's irksome, and evidently, you're incapable of taking a hint.

his silence becomes more painful with each turn of the moon. you're a bit mortified to find that you genuinely miss him, so you just want answers. did he finally realize that you're nothing special, not worth bothering with?

eventually, growing restless, you all but beg him. "sukuna, please. talk to me. what happened? what'd i do wrong?" his chest tightens with what he believes is vexation. "you can't just make me like you and then disappear. you can't kiss me like that and then—"

"you insolent, maddening little creature!" his eye flies open just in time to see you gasp, your body jerking away from him. "shut up already! can't you see i want nothing to do with you? don't you tire of being pathetic?"

you don't dignify him with a response, swallowing thickly and turning away from him.

finally, he thinks, some fucking quiet. though if he's gotten what he wanted, why does his chest still ache?

he stares at the back of your form until the sun rises.

sukuna is no simpleton. he can be patient when he is sure of a reward, but he's thrilled that the perfect opportunity arises just two days after your encounter.

yuuji is exhausted. gojo kept him out all last night, despite the grueling mission he had today, and when he all but stumbles through your apartment door, the moon is already high in the sky.

you never mention the change in your relationship with sukuna to yuuji. even though he was so understanding, you still feel a touch awkward discussing it further. and maybe in the back of your mind, you're holding out hope that it might go back to the way it was.

sukuna watches through yuuji's eyes when you greet him, your expression half concern and half 'i told you so'. nights out with gojo usually lead to this very situation.

he showers while you finish cooking dinner and once you both eat, he helps you clean up despite his exhaustion. after whispering his thanks and pressing a kiss to your temple, he retires to bed.

you promise you'll join him soon, but sukuna knows it probably isn't true. following his outburst, you've taken to staying in the living room until you're ready to sleep.

yuuji's out before his head hits the pillow and nearly two hours later, you're still not in bed. sukuna's eager, but waits until he's sure the brat's deep in his slumber before he tries to take over. it's relatively easy, and he pushes down yuuji's unconscious mind as far as he can before rising to his feet.

this is finally it. he stretches his limbs lazily, a dangerous smirk settling on his lips. the floor creaks with each step he takes, but he pays no mind to stealth. you're no match for him.

tonight, you'll be his first victim of many and the thought of making up for his past misjudgement has him giddy with excitement.

but the sight that greets him upon exiting the bedroom— you curled into yourself on the couch, your shoulders shaking with quiet sobs— it stops him in his tracks.

he wants to move, more than anything, so what the fuck is wrong with him? is the brat taking over already?

and why is that uncomfortable sensation making it's home in the center of his chest once more?

when you notice his presence, your face shifts to him and reveals your wide, teary eyes. it's clear you're surprised by his appearance, but you quickly bury your face in your knees.

you just want him to leave you alone. you hate him for what he said, for what he did. he forced his way into your life, made you care about him, and then he just vanished. he's cruel and you feel like an idiot because you should have known that from the beginning. or maybe you did and he just made you forget.

"go away. i.. i don't want to see you."

he's disbelieving, for a brief moment, that here you are giving him orders while he stands in the doorway with the intention of taking your life.

he moves toward you, invading your space in a way that is meant to be intimidating, but when you look up at him, every emotion ranging from sadness to rejection to indignation is etched into your features. though the terror he hoped to inspire is noticeably absent.

"i said go away!" you swiftly stand up, your hands meeting squarely with his chest as you push him with every ounce of power you have.

you may as well have shoved a brick wall, as he doesn't move even a fraction of an inch. he seizes one of your wrists anyway.

"what is it you think you're doing, exactly?" he spits.

"let go of me!" you beat against his chest with the hand he left free until his fingers wrap around that wrist too.

"enough."

he's certain there isn't a being that has attacked him (if he can even call that an attack) and lived to speak of it, not once in an entire millennia.

so just end the insolent brat and be done with it, he urges himself.

but he can't and he doesn't understand why, so he just stares down at you.

"what the fuck do you want?" you mean for it to come out forcefully and full of spite, but your voice cracks before you can finish.

an excellent question, indeed. what does he want?

he doesn't answer you and it's so goddamn frustrating that you begin to cry again, rambling to fill the discomforting silence. "you've already told me i'm pitiful and annoying. it's clear you think my company is insufferable, that i'm undesirable—"

that ache in his chest is unbearable now. it claws at his ribcage and shreds the flesh of his heart. it makes his stomach twist uncomfortably and rings shrilly in his ears. he can't even hear you anymore, but he can still see the tears sliding down your cheeks and the way you gasp between words.

the truth of the matter crashes down on him and the devastating weight of it is so crushing it squeezes the air from his lungs.

that feeling in his chest isn't annoyance or repugnance. its anguish— the kind that rattles his bones and leaves him sick with regret.

it's because you're in pain, and worse yet, he is the cause of it.

sukuna pushes you back against the wall before you can comprehend what's happening. his hands find either side of your face and you're alarmed to find that he looks... frightened.

"what are you doing to me?" he pleads for an explanation, because he sure as hell doesn't have one.

how can one little human hold such power over him? it's unnatural. it defies all logic and reason.

you stare at him, open mouthed. his face is so close that his breath fans across your skin and it makes you feel dizzy.

"what are you talking about?" you finally ask.

"you should be dead right now," he frets, despair seeping into every word. "it should be easy."

it dawns on you that you should probably feel afraid, but you just don't. his touch is firm, but careful. and there's no malice to be found behind his eyes. "you're not making any sense."

he thinks back on the time you've spent together, trying to figure out how the hell he ended up here— him at your mercy, rather than you at his. he remembers the first time he made you laugh and considers that it may have been the beginning of his unraveling. for the following two weeks, you both discussed homer at length as you made your way through his poetry.

"there can be no covenants between men and lions. wolves and lambs can never be of one mind, but hate each other through and through." you blink at him, recognizing at once that he's quoting the illiad. his voice is low and unsteady in a way that suggests desperation. it makes you shiver. "therefore there can be no understanding between you and me, nor may there be any covenants between us, till one or other shall fall."

your eyes narrow as you begin to understand his his internal struggle, though you're unsure if he's attempting to reason with you or with himself.

"you quote achilles, and rightfully so i suppose, given your common qualities— exasperating pride and a penchant for meaningless violence." he looks relieved, like your seeming agreement eases his mind. it's short lived. "but you forget his passion."

his gaze shifts away from you, his hands withdrawing from your face.

"his passion?" he repeats as if it's the most incredulous thing he's ever heard.

"by the end of the story, is he not acquainted with regret, sympathy, and respect? he doesn't remain blind to the error of his ways forever."

"only a foolish human could make such fanciful deductions," he chides through gritted teeth, still refusing to meet your eye.

you actually laugh at him. "perhaps you shouldn't call upon achilles to make your point after all. at least he grows out of his utterly childish view of the world."

"how dare you?" he demands, his features growing wild as one hand finds your throat (his touch not nearly harsh enough to cause you any discomfort), the other colliding with the wall beside your head. his display doesn't fool you though. "you witless, wretched brat! you're nothing more than a blip in a universe you cannot even begin to understand. you sicken me."

you throw achilles' words in his face just as easily as he did to you. "hateful to me as the gates of hades is that man who hides one thing in his heart and speaks another."

his gaze hardens, and for a split second, you think you may have been mistaken in your fearlessness, but then his fingers thread themselves through your hair and he pulls your lips to his.

it's rough and commanding, and he tells himself it's only to get you to shut up. to wipe that expression of smug pity from your face.

it's not because, despite the fact you know how awful he is, you're convinced there's something salvageable in him too. nor is it because you tyrannize his every passing thought. and it's certainly not because the feeling of you pressed against him brings him more satisfaction than ripping the hearts from the chests of a hundred men.

ultimately, his denial is overshadowed by his desire. your touch is nothing short of needy as you tug at his shirt, an attempt to bring him even closer, and god does he hope that means you feel just as desperate as he does. he deserves at least a little consolation.

as his hands roam every valley and curve of your body, he deems it unfair that a being whose very existence spells hell on earth should be so taken with such a devastatingly divine creature.

"i've wanted you so terribly," he mumbles against your mouth before he can stop himself.

"then fuck you for making us both wait," you breath out.

his fingers dig into the flesh of your hips in response and his lips shift to your neck. "watch that pretty little mouth of yours, brat."

he nips at the spot just below your ear hard enough that it makes you gasp, doubtless a punishment for your impudence. you recover quickly though, wasting no time with your flippant reply. "or what? you'll go back to plotting my murder?"

he pulls away from you abruptly, sighing deeply and pinching the bridge of his nose. "you truly have zero sense of self preservation, don't you?"

"guess so," you shrug, smiling at him bashfully. "can we watch a movie? i'll even let you pick."

you ask as if it's the most normal request in the world. as if he isn't a thousand year old curse that would be off turning the city to ash were he not here with you instead.

he rolls his eyes, scoffing at the ridiculousness of it all. "fine."

#m!writes #sukuna #sukuna x reader #sukuna imagines #sukuna angst #ryomen sukuna #ryomen sukuna x reader #ryomen sukuna imagines #ryomen sukuna angst #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen imagines #jujutsu kaisen angst #jjk #jjk x reader #jjk imagines #jjk angst

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yanderes-galore · 3 months

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I was going to do this at some point but others also wanted it... so! CatNap time! This is my version like with DogDay, so maybe read that one first to understand my AU? Pure brainrot, barely proofread, there may be mistakes.

🌙Yandere! CatNap Concept🌙

🐱(My Version)🐱

Pairing: Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Stalking, Possessive behavior, Violence, Overprotective behavior, Drugging/Gassing, CatNap watches you sleep, Manipulation, Slight sadism, Blood, Implied murder, Slight gore, Forced companionship.

I'm just going to say this, the first thing I read about CatNap is he likes watching his friends sleep.

So that's how this starts.

As usual, CatNap has a cartoon/plush form and a monster form in my AU.

I talk a bit more about this in the DogDay concept.

CatNap, in his more innocent plush form, is docile, gentle, bashful, and highly impressionable according to the wiki.

CatNap can have an eerie presence but he is usually very calming.

He prioritizes proper rest, especially towards you.

When left all alone in Playcare, he becomes a hunting beast who worships The Prototype.

He's not Theo in this version, he's his own thing.

He's sadistic and enjoys the hunt in his more beastly form.

However... he isn't heartless... as in this concept he cares for you a lot.

Let's use this concept just to discuss his overall behavior like I did in the last one.

CatNap's plush/cartoon form still manages to get up to just about the waist of an adult on two legs.

Although the cat also likes to roam on four legs.

CatNap has a lavender smell in his fur, a scent known to calm and put others to sleep.

Although... that isn't exactly what he uses to put you to sleep.

Like in canon, CatNap has the ability to release Poppy Gas from his lungs.

Said gas creates hallucinations and even puts the target asleep.

CatNap likes it when his best friend sleeps....

So, the purple cat often likes to crawl on your lap, release some of the gas, and puts you to sleep as he nuzzles into you with a purr.

Yes, I feel I want to make CatNap purr in my version.

CatNap likes to wrap his long tail around you and follows you around loyally.

He wants to make you happy, healthy, and full of energy!

The only way to do that is a good night's sleep, right?

So let him help you.

CatNap definitely also uses his lavender scent to calm you, too.

He just wants his friend to hold him and sleep...

He'll watch over you like a good friend should.

Then there's the monster form.

He's still very dedicated to you, even when he roams the area like a stalking cat.

CatNap watches over you like a hawk, a caretaker at heart.

In his larger form he looks more unnerving, crawling on all fours like huge hunting cat.

He carefully stalks prey (and you) in the shadows, disorienting them with Poppy Gas before striking.

Unlike DogDay he doesn't bother hiding his predatory nature.

He doesn't care if blood or bits of flesh stain his purple fur when he eats.

His lavender scent still lingers despite the dirty blood smell when he's near you.

The large cat often tries to curl around you in his larger form, purring softly as he encourages you to sleep.

If you try to leave his long tail prevents it... he'll even give you Poppy Gas if you still struggle.

If you think about it... CatNap would be very similar to Moon from FNAF... except CatNap is more... religious?

Speaking of that, CatNap may view you as a gift from The Prototype.

His god has rewarded him for his loyalty!

He'll cherish you as his Best Friend....

CatNap would not hurt you as he views you as his gift and Best Friend.

He often swaps between his smaller cartoon/plush form and his monster form.

If he isn't on a hunt and doesn't want to scare you... he'll swap to his more docile form and encourage you to hold him.

Admittedly... his purr and lavender scent is enough to make you want to sleep anyways.

CatNap is mostly sadistic towards others, like DogDay and the other Critters if they were still alive somehow.

CatNap is possessive of his newfound pal.

He growls and hisses when you try to leave or if you mention any other Toy Mascot.

Even if you did escape, CatNap is hot on your tail, stalking you from the shadows.

Next thing you know the room you're in fills with red mist... you start to hallucinate... the last thing you see before you collapse is the monstrous form of a predatory cat.

Then you wake up back where you once were... with a purple plush cat wrapped in your arms purring away.

It looks like you aren't leaving the claws of CatNap after all....

#yandere poppy playtime #yandere smiling critters #yandere catnap

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myheadphonesareneverloudenough · 3 days

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Thinking about how Matt Lang mentioned rerunning TGWDLM.

Obviously, there'd have to be changes. Not just in the casting, but in every aspect of the show just due to the nature of how Hatchetfield has expanded and how TGWDLM has aged.

Now that we know for sure that the events in TGWDLM happened because of Pokey, I think they'd design the show even more around the colour blue instead of green like in the original promotional material. This also gives Matt Dahan so much more to work with when it comes to underscoring, think of all the motifs he has to sneak into the scenes now.

Hidgens would have to be recasted, and while there's plenty of options, I think after Workin' Boys he has to be played by Jeff Blim. I don't know if anyone can ever top what Jeff did in WB. Of course, that would mean that Jeff's original TGWDLM characters would need to be recasted as well. Mr. Davidson has not been seen in HF since TGWDLM (save for the small BF cameo), so it wouldn't be hard to find someone new for that role. Sam Sweetly is more difficult because of his appearances in Nightmare Time and the pre-recorded NPMD cameo, but it's impossible to have Jeff play both Hidgens and Sam in the same scene so he would still most likely be recasted.

The only Jeff character that would need to stay the same is General John Macnamara, that's another permanently Jeff character, in my opinion. The show would require some rearranging so that the Macnamara and Hidgens scenes weren't back to back this way. Between TGWDLM and BF, Macnamara went through a lot of character development and Jeff really discovered who he was by the second show, so it would be super interesting to see him interacting with Paul again now that we've learned so much more about the guy.

Now that Hatchetfield has expanded so much, I think it would be really fun to bring in new characters that we've met since TGWDLM happened. They should include Curt Mega as Officer Bailey in Show Me Your Hands, since we know he canonically works alongside Sweetly. Bring in James Tolbert during the PEIP scene as Xander Lee. Even just the people on the streets in La Dee Dah Dah Day, imagine the amount of cameos that could come into play there. Kim Whalen dances in as Becky Barnes, Angela Giarratana is Grace Chasity, all these well-known characters that we never saw during TGWDLM before making small appearances as they were already infected by the hive mind.

Speaking of the La Dee Dah Dah Day number, it would be fucking awesome to get Joey Richter back in the Pete Spankoffski costume for the coffee shop scene to do the hot chocolate boy bit.

I also just think a new perspective on the show will change so much of the context. Like Emma discussing Jane, we now know Jane's family with Tom and Tim. We're now very familiar with Ted's little brother, a character we had no idea existed during TGWDLM (think about Ted's little freak out over Alice being dead at Hatchetfield High...). We had no idea that this apocalypse was brought on by one of the Lords in Black.

Anyways. I agree with Matt, they should definitely bring The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals back for another run of the show.

#j screams #another tumblr rant when i could be doing something productive #starkid #hatchetfield #the guy who didn't like musicals

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cutekittenlady · 7 months

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I wanna see more fan theories about Alucards unexpected return at the end of Nocturne. And not just his return but also how you think each of the characters will react/get along with him.

Like there's Richter who is arguably probably the most acquianted with who Alucard is given he's seemingly the first one to recognize him and is the one to describe him as a 'legend'. But, like, whose legend exactly? A belmont legend? Or a european legend in general? Either way I think Richter might just be the quickest to trust Alucard. Partially because hes an ancestral ally but also because Alucard pretty directly saved his life.

But then theres everyone else.

Do Maria and Mizrak know who Alucard is? Or who Dracula was? If they recognize the latter but not the former will that effect how they see Alucard?

Annette definitely doesnt know who alucard is or what his story is, so I think she's the one I can most easily see raising the question of why they should trust and ally with this random vampire (dhampyr but I dunno if they'd identify that on sight). Thus giving a good reason for someone, either Richter or even Alucard himself, to give some exposition on the subject. Even after that though she may retain some standoffish caution around Alucard until his actiosn compound enough that shes able to trust him.

Mizrak, I think, may know who Dracula was and MAY even know some of the details of his destruction given he works for the church and the church is more likely to have kept records of the whole thing. Though if he DOES know its possible he's only gotten some very biased and/or inaccurate accounts given that I don't think Sypha or Trevor would have left their own account of events to the church. Oddly enough I can see Mizrak willingly working with Alucard. After all he had his whole relationship with Olrox (tho it didn't end well) and while he clings to his faith strongly enough that he put up with the actions of the abbot, he seems to have a pragmatic side that might reason that even if Alucard is a vampire working for his own reasons, he's a powerful ally they desperately need. Plus he may be able to reason that keeping someone like Alucard where they can see him is a good move.

Maria is interesting because her mother was a speaker and she's been growing up alongside Richter for years. It's possible Richter told her about what his ancestors got up to, and maybe even about Alucard. Maybe he just thought they were aspirational stories his mother told him as a kid. Then again, its still possible she doesnt entirely know the full story of who Alucard is as a person. Plus after everything she just went through with the vampires and her father's betrayal, she may not be emotionally in a place to trust Alucard right off the bat. Of course, discussing how Maria reacts to Alucard is especially interesting considering game canon. Or rather the vagueness of game canon. I mean, Alucard and Maria are a popular pairing in the Castlevania fandom and not for no reason, but canon itself opts to be vague about the nature of their relationship. I mean, theres no mentions of them getting married, etc. So whether they were romantic, one sided on Marias side, or purely platonic is one of those things thats really kind of an a la carte for fans.

With all that being said, Maria is bound to become close to Alucard in some way assuming the creators of Castlevania Nocturne intend to stay close to canon on this front. But for long time video game fans this is easily one of the most looked forward to developments come season 2.

#castlevania #castlevania nocturne #castlevania spoilers #castlevania nocturne spoilers #alucard tepes #alucard castlevania #maria renard #richter belmont #castlevania mizrak #castlevania olrox #castlevania annette #annette #mizrak #olrox

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mysterycitrus · 2 months

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Hi. Your posts show up on my dash and I think you have good and knowledgeable takes. What do we do when canon is inconsistent and contradictory? For example Winick!Jason vs Morrison!Jason pre new52? Like W!Jason says child sidekicks are dumb and shouldn't exist while M!Jason had him go get sidekick for himself. How should we reconcile this when discussing the characters? Thanks.

id say as a general point of reference that consistent, foundational character traits can persist regardless of bad comics. dick grayson is an example - in taylor's run he's written as a pretty idiot but in waid's worlds finest he's portrayed more accurately as a neurotic overachiever, and both runs were being published at the same time. it's about reading enough comics to be able to judge for urself what u want to keep and what u want to discard.

there's also broader metatexual reasons for why tangibly bad characterisation exists — winick and morrison mischaracterised and villianised talia al ghul in different ways to the detriment of her characterisation. talia's writing was a combination of bad writing and sexualised racism. similar issue w roy harper — his history with addiction is rewritten and his autonomy is undermined. it's always worth thinking about why a writer might interpret a character a certain way.

wrt to jason, he's an interesting case because unlike a lot of characters he has an actual, definitive comic thats the literal foundation for his existence in modern canon - under the red hood. jason's had the worst holistic writing by a considerable margin, and so people tend to discard his appearances depending on their taste (green arrow, batman and robin 2009, the recent gotham war arc, countdown, botc, etc) but utrh is his backstory and the context for his actions. winick's jason, through lost days and outsiders, feels like the same dude and is kinda the "base" version of the character. we also know what winick thought about morrison btw.

i actually don't think most of jason's actions pre-flashpoint are absurdly ooc, because he was conceptualised as a bad dude with hypocritical morals. theres a lot of dialogue around how bias has affected jason's writing historically but as red hood it feels like a believable radicalisation imo - winick's jason could be driven to hurt others. thats fine tbc because thats what makes him an interesting and complex character, but the issue is that no one was willing to commit to rehabilitating him into the bat-adjacent, generally heroic figure he's now recognised as. i personally think that him being chummy with the bats is a lot more egregious of a mischaracterisation than him blowing up a high school. there's no bridge between the jason that gloated when bludhaven got nuked and the jason that goes to batburger with the gang. i need more than the writer telling me that they like each other in a text box.

but again thats like. personal interpretation. every character with a book has comics that’re featured on every reading list, and then its a matter of ignoring or recontextualising the stuff u personally dont agree with. tis the nature of enduring canon. the picking and choosing.

#idk if this is the answer u wanted but u have the power to make ur own party baby 🎉#like those pick ur own adventure stories at the bookfair #dick grayson #nightwing #dc comics #batman #the ask and the answer

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ghostlystyles · 1 year

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𝐖𝐀𝐈𝐓 𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐋 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆

anthony lockwood x gn!reader

anthony lockwood can definitely be a drama queen

request: Hi, could you do an Anthony Lockwood x reader where the reader is extremely exhausted and ends up passing out during a mission and Anthony gets really worried about the reader? Thanks :D

tessa’s notes: thank you anon for sending in the first request i’ve ever gotten, i hope this is what you had in mind :)

warnings: fluff, swearing, blood, sleep deprivation, fainting, a bit of angst?, canon typical violence, comment if i missed any <3

word count: 1,5k

— YOU OPENED THE door of 35 Portland Row in the middle of the night for what had to be the twentieth time that month and saw a middle-aged couple standing on your doorstep. “Lockwood & Co?” the man asked. “Yeah, that’s us. How can we help you?” you yawned, leaning against the open door. “Our house is haunted and it’s keeping us up at night. We figured you might be able to help us.”

You led the couple towards the kitchen and made them a cup of tea. “Oi, get up! There’s people here!” you called and not long after your three friends joined you at the dining table.

“So, tell us about what’s haunting your house,” Lockwood started, placing his ankle on his thigh. He wore a black, graphic jumper, joggers and his hair was messy. Although liking it, you’d been begging him for months to lose the suit every once in a while and usually midnight was the only time you got to see it, so you couldn’t help but grin.

“Well— we don’t know. We know there’s two but we’ve never seen them, only heard,” the woman explained. “And what did you hear?” you asked, leaning your head onto your hands with your eyelids heavy.

“Just— knocks on the walls and, we constantly have this feeling of crippling anxiety and fear and— we always feel like we’re being followed,” the man answered in detail. “Okay, that sounds like a Type One, so you don’t have to worry. We could get the job done tomorrow evening.”

“We actually don’t have a place to stay, we assumed you could just get it done right away.”

“That— okay. It might be possible, but it will cost significantly more as it’s extremely last minute.”

“That would be great, thank you so much. Money’s not an issue, we’ll pay you any reasonable price.”

“I’ll have to discuss it with my partners, if you’ll excuse us,” Lockwood nodded professionally as the four of you got up and walked into the corridor.

“What do you guys think?” he asked. “I think I could do it, they’re only Type Ones,” Lucy shrugged. “Well, I’d prefer it if I had time to research, but I guess it could work,” George added, rubbing his eyes. “And you, Y/N?”

“I— yeah, sure. I reckon I just need a coffee and then we can get to work,” you yawned, leaning against the wall to support your legs. “You sure? You’re not sleeping well as it is and you’re starting to look like a ghost yourself,” Lucy frowned worriedly. “A friendly ghost, I hope, but it’s fine, it’ll earn us some good money,” you joked. “I really don’t think that’s a good idea, Y/N, we should just tell them no,” George added. “Yeah, are you really sure? We can wait until the morning. We don’t owe those people anything,” Lockwood pitched in. “Yes, Lockwood! I promise it’s fine! It won’t take long anyway.”

— THE FOUR OF you slowly entered the house that belonged to the couple. “Lockwood and I will take the upstairs, you take the downstairs?” you whispered as you looked around cautiously. “You two gotta stick together, huh?” Lucy nudged you playfully. “Oh, fuck off,” you rolled your eyes with a smile. You always got the same response, but it just made sense. Lockwood had excellent Sight, and you were a pretty good Listener, George was average on all talents, but Lucy was an outstanding Listener.

“Does everyone have all their stuff?” Lockwood asked, with his hands in his pockets and you all nodded. “Okay, then let’s stop fucking around and get this done.”

Lockwood quickly walked up the stairs and you followed him, frankly a lot less quickly, as your limbs felt heavy on your body. “Y/N! You coming?” Lockwood stopped at the top of the stairs when he noticed you weren’t next to him anymore. “Yes, just give me a moment,” you muttered, stifling back another yawn. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Lockwood asked once more, his face coated in worry. “Yes, Lockwood, how many times? Just, stop worrying about me for a second!” you grumbled as you strolled further onto the first floor.

“I— Jesus, I was just making sure you weren’t gonna faint or something,” Lockwood muttered, slightly taken aback. "Wait, shh—," you whispered as you covered Lockwood's mouth with your hands. "I hear something."

You closed your eyes and focused, so you could hear the sound better. You heard the soft shuffling of bony feet and echoing sighs, but you couldn't quite tell where it came from. "I'm pretty sure it's a Stalker," you concluded. “Where is it?” Lockwood asked. “I don’t know… I can’t tell,” you said, you squeezed your eyes shut, but it felt like your head was stuffed with cotton. Likely because of the sleep deprivation, but you’d never admit that, of course. The two of you started walking in the direction of one of the rooms and warily looked around. You closed your eyes, but you’d lost the sound of footsteps.

“I think we chose the wrong direction,” you muttered and Lockwood nodded in agreement. You walked out of the room and back into the corridor, when you were suddenly overtaken by dizziness and a sick feeling. You halted for a moment and took a deep breath, but the feeling didn’t go away. Instead, black spots started filling your peripheral vision and slowly spread their way to the center of your gaze. “Lockwood… I don’t feel so good,” you trembled, before everything went black.

“Y/N!” Lockwood exclaimed as he heard your body collapse with the ground and he rushed over to you, cradling your face in his hands. “Y/N?” he croaked as he brushed your hair out of your face. After about half a minute, your eyes fluttered open and you saw Lockwood’s face hover over you. “Hi,” he gave you a watery smile and his expression shifted from anxious to relieved.

You slowly sat up and immediately felt like vomiting, as your limbs were aching and your head was pounding from the fall. “Hey, hey, slow down,” Lockwood whispered tenderly, “how are you feeling?”

“Everything hurts,” you said, when you felt something warm dripping down your cheeks. Lockwood’s gaze slightly shifted and he gasped when he saw the huge gash across your nose bridge. “What happened?” you winced, feeling the wound sting. “I don’t— you must’ve hit your head on the banister or something,” Lockwood worried with wide eyes, “we should take you to the hospital, that probably needs stitches.”

“No way! I’m not letting someone sew my skin like it’s a piece of fabric!”

“It’ll be okay, I promise. George, Luce and I wil be there the whole time and besides, it’s gonna leave one badass scar.”

— A TRIP TO the hospital and a fuckton of stitches later, Lockwood was carrying you bridal style down the streets of London. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone get this injured on a Type One mission,” Lucy chuckled. “Be nice to me Luce, I fainted and smacked my head into a banister,” you laughed, hitting her shoulder. “I suggest we all just listen to me next time, because I get really scared when people faint,” George sighed. “Oh, you should've seen Lockwood, Georgie. He looked at me as if I was dying.”

“Look, in my defence, I didn’t know what happened. For all I knew, you could’ve had a knife in your back and were slowly bleeding out,” Lockwood scoffed. “I’m just kidding, it was very sweet of you,” you reassured him as you patted his cheek. “You’re always so dramatic,” Lucy smiled, as she nudged Lockwood with her shoulder and he gave her a side-eye. “Anyway, when we get home, you’re going to bed and you’re not coming out of there until I say so,” Lockwood started, looking down at you, “and I’m going to find those people and try to rake up the price by a lot, so we don’t have to open the door in the middle of the night again.”

“That seems like a good idea, I’ll go with you,” George said and Lockwood nodded approvingly. “Why did it take me nearly perishing at the hands of a fucking banister for us to realise that taking clients in the middle of the night is a terrible idea?” you laughed loudly, throwing your head back. “Aha! So you do admit that you very nearly died and I have the right to be concerned about you and your well-being!” Lockwood exclaimed as he slightly swung you, making you scream and tightly hold onto him.

Lucy caught George’s gaze and shook her head with a smile, “we really should’ve waited until the morning.”

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daughterofcain-67 · 2 months

Text

𝒞𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝒟𝒾𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 : 𝓅𝓉 2

(Dean Winchester x Artist/Bartender! Female Reader)

(𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉 1) (𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉 3)

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: While looking for more information regarding the mysterious deaths somehow linked to Mr. Nelson and his bar, Sam and Dean find out you could be next.

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: none that I can think of? Mentions of killings, canon level case discussions.

The evening came around and your shift at the bar was finally over. You quickly clocked out, grabbed your bag and just started to walk out of the door. Your mood was pretty much ruined as far as going out with Callie and Danielle tonight. It was ruined ever since Dean practically told you he couldn’t give you the time of day.

But what else could you expect from a man that ghosted you and never contacted you again. Was the summer you spent with him really that terrible? You didn’t want to bother him by asking, so you thought it would be better to just let him do his job and stay out of his hair as much as possible.

But why? Why did there have to be a case that brought him here of all places if he was destined to be so cruel?

“Y/N! Wait up!”

You sighed, knowing Danielle had caught you after all. Nonetheless, you stopped and plastered a cheerful smile on your face as you turned around, “What’s up?”

“Oh don’t tell me you forgot about our plans tonight already! We’re supposed to go out and find you a guy! Come on, we need to get over to Callie’s. We still need to check on her, and maybe she can let you borrow some of her clubbing clothes. I think she’s gonna need a distraction tonight too if she knows her boyfriend was out with someone else.” Danielle rambled.

That’s right, you had forgotten about Callie and her boyfriend, Dylan. You still hadn’t heard from her throughout the day to figure out if she was still up for going out tonight. Honestly you could understand why Danielle was concerned about your friend, you were starting to grow worried too even if you didn’t want to admit it.

As far as you knew, Callie definitely would need this night more than you did if she knew about her boyfriend. Maybe you should go at least for her sake, and it would make you forget about Dean even if it was for a moment. A brief moment but it was a diversion nonetheless.

“Yeah… why don’t we go ahead and take my car? No sense in having you waste your gas after all.” You insisted and Danielle thanked you. Then the two of you hopped into your vehicle and you drove off to Callie’s house.

“So how did it go with that FBI guy?” Danielle asked. You had forgotten she sent Dean your way that afternoon in the first place.

“Did he ask really intimidating questions? Both those guys looked like they had seen a lot. They were both kind of cute. Especially the taller one with the hair. Did he ask a lot of questions about Nelson’s wife? Do you think someone here at the bar did it? Oh what if-“

“Danielle? I need you to stop talking and breathe, please.” You said as you focused on the road.

“Honestly I don’t really feel like talking about that guy anyway.” You admitted, but then Danielle looked over at you.

“What happened? Was it that bad of an interaction?” You sighed when you realized she probably wouldn’t let it go until she had the answer she was looking for.

“You remember the guy in that sketch book I was drawing? That was him.” Danielle gasped and you swore by how loud it was, it was like she inhaled half the oxygen in the car.

“No…. that was you mystery man? How could you not want to talk about him? Seeing him after all these years? That must’ve been so good to see him again! Did he remember you? Did you two get to talk?” She bombarded you with so many questions and you wondered if you should have even opened your mouth to tell her about Dean.

“It was great at first. Yes he recognized me. No it didn’t go well. He’s focused on the case and didn’t have time to chat. I told him what I knew before I left to do my job and he can do his without my help.” You said, letting the bitterness in your voice linger in the air.

Danielle finally went quiet for a moment as she let the words sink in. Just when you started to get the idea that you weren’t interested in talking about Dean anymore, she spoke again.

“I’m sure he has some kind of reason. Agents must get really busy so you can’t exactly blame him completely. Maybe he’ll stop by the bar again when the case is over and you two can finally talk about everything.”

“I doubt it.” You scoffed, Danielle frowned before she gazed through the windshield.

“What do you think Callie will do whenever we go out tonight?” Danielle changed the subject, which you were thankful for.

“Well, I think she’d go to a bar whether she and Dylan really broke up or not. If she and Dylan actually broke up, then I think she’d be apt to flirt with more guys and have some kind of one night stand. Dylan had those trust issues, so why not spite him, right?” You hypothesized and Danielle chuckled slightly and nodded.

“Yeah that sounds like her.” She replied.

Just as the two of you made it to Callie’s apartment building, you saw that there were several cop cars with their lights shining brightly, blinking enough to give an epileptic person a seizure.

A sickening feeling swirled in your stomach, unsettling and nauseating.

“It’s not going to be Callie. I’m sure she’s fine. It’s bound to be one of her neighbors.” You said, Danielle looked stunned but she gave a hesitant nod.

When you parked the car, you and Danielle both got out and just as you started walking towards the building, one of the cops stopped you.

“I’m sorry, ladies. We’re not allowing anyone in or out at this time. This is a crime scene.” The officer told you while holding his hand up to prevent you from passing.

“Our friend lives here. We’re supposed to be heading somewhere tonight and we’re supposed to meet her in a couple of minutes.” You tried to explain.

“I’m sorry, Miss, but I can’t let you-“

“Y/N, look!” Danielle said and grabbed your arm.

You looked over at your friend and realized she was pointing somewhere. When you followed the direction, your eyes widened when your gaze landed on an all too familiar figure being put into a body bag.

“No…” You muttered.

It was Callie inside the bag and she was being zipped up and placed into the Medical Examiner’s vehicle.

This couldn’t be happening. Callie was just alive two days ago! It couldn’t be true, Callie couldn’t be gone. How did this happen? When did it happen? Why didn’t anyone find Callie sooner?!

So many questions were swirling through your mind but the sound of Danielle’s sobs brought you back to reality.

“I’m sorry, ladies, but the two of you really shouldn’t be here.” The officer said and you let out a shakey breath.

“Have you ID’d her yet?” You asked.

“No. Was this your friend?” He asked.

“Yes… her name was Callie Jordan. We worked together.” You informed, trying to be calm about it and you looked over at Danielle who’s eyes were already reddening with the tears streaming down her face.

“Come on, Danielle. Let’s get out of here.” You said and you put your hands on her arms to guide her away from the area.

As the two of you were walking, you saw a familiar black car park. The doors swung open and you locked eyes with the familiar FBI Agent that had his hands tied too much to even speak with you more than five minutes.

Dean and his partner started talking to one another and the taller one nodded before he walked off to the scene. Dean began strolling toward your direction and your insides churned even more, not exactly wanting the interaction right now.

“Agent.” You said shortly.

“Are you two alright? What happened out there?” Dean asked you, and you could tell there was sincere concern. You couldn’t imagine why it was there, even if you could you were too bitter from earlier that day to care.

“No, we aren’t alright. Our friend is dead and we don’t have any answers because the cop wouldn’t even let us in.” You said.

“When was the last time you talked to your friend?” Dean asked and you scoffed.

“Really? You’re gonna question the two of us now?” You asked coldly.

“Why don’t you and your little partner investigate Callie’s body first and find out what the hell happened to her before you start bombarding us with questions, huh? Focus on your damned job since that’s the focus.” You seethed and you saw Dean’s jaw tighten, nearly at a loss for words.

“Two days ago… But Dylan… h-her boyfriend may have talked to her sooner than that.” Danielle interrupted, gently squeezing your arm to try and get you to calm down. Asking questions were a part of the job and he needed cooperation.

“Thank you, Ma’am… my partner and I will try and get answers for the both of you as soon as possible.” Dean said, clearing his throat before he walked off to the crime scene.

You watched him walk away and he didn’t even look back at you. Maybe going to the bar was a better idea than you thought.

“Do you want to stay with Chris tonight? I can drop you off at his house.” You said and Danielle shook her head.

“Could I stay with you tonight instead? That way I know you’ll at least make it to your next shift at work and all?” Danielle said and tried her best to laugh but it came out as yet another sob.

You sighed softly, not sure how staying with you would help her cope. You hoped her boyfriend would help her more with that. But you didn’t exactly want to say no when she was this vulnerable.

“At least let the guy know where you’ll be. Yeah you can crash at my place tonight.” You insisted as the two of you got back to the car and you two started the ride back to your house, deciding to leave Danielle’s car at work. You could always just pick it up tomorrow.

Dean knew he deserved that kind of reaction from you. After all, the afternoon wasn’t exactly the greatest reunion he could have thought of. But he had to be realistic about this case, as well as his life as a hunter. He wouldn’t get attached to you, because he couldn’t handle the guilt of letting something happen to you. Not like Lisa or Jo.

It was out of the cards and he just hoped one day you’d understand.

“What did you find out?” Dean asked as he looked at the paramedics taking the body in the M.E vehicle.

“Same as Mr. Nelson’s wife. Some sort of horrific animal attack. But there was no evidence of an animal in the house, none of the victim’s neighbors saw or heard an animal in the building. No one even heard the victim scream.” Sam explained with a frown.

“What about you?” He asked Dean, just for the older brother to let out a sigh.

“Well, Y/N’s friend was more cooperative. Apparently the victim’s name was Callie. The last they heard from her was two days ago. But apparently she had a boyfriend. Y/N’s friend implied he may have had a conversation sooner than that.” Dean spoke.

“The friend said?” Sam arched a brow, “You must’ve royally messed up at the bar.”

“We’re here on a job, alright? Not to reconnect and get Y/N killed. And I think she got the picture.” Dean said, although he grew quieter at the last sentence.

Sam picked up on the shift in his brother’s tone as they walked back into the Impala. He knew how stubborn Dean was, but he wished he knew why Dean seemed to refuse to allow himself the chance to be happy. It was almost like Dean thought his own happiness was a form of blasphemy, and Sam wished he knew how to change that sort of mindset.

“You don’t know if she’ll get herself killed. Lisa’s not dead.” Sam reminded his brother and Dean shot him a glare.

“No but she could have been and it would have been my faul- why are we even talking about this? Can we just focus on the case? We need to find out where Callie’s boyfriend is and talk to him.” Dean said and opened up the car door.

Sam let out an irritated grunt at his brother’s difficult behavior, but he got into the car just for the radio to start playing the same several songs on the cassette that got old after a while. He still didn’t get how Dean could listen to the same thing over and over, and he probably wouldn’t ever get it.

“Do you happen to know anything else about Dylan? Where we can find him?” Sam questioned.

“No. I kind of had the feeling I should get out of there before things got out of hand. Y/N wasn’t exactly thrilled of my presence and their friend was just murdered. I was hoping you had some kind of info so we could kind of work around them.” Dean sighed.

Sam sighed a little, hoping that Dean knew that if this case got any worse, he would have to face you eventually. After all, he couldn't avoid you forever now that he was in the same town as you were.

"We're gonna have to do some digging. Maybe we can go to the station after we go to the M.E's office. Or maybe we can split again and see what we can find on Callie's phone. Maybe she still had his social media on her phone." Sam suggested.

"Great. You take the Doc, I'll take a look at her belongings." Dean volunteered, pawning the disgusting stuff onto his younger brother, which only made Sam roll his eyes. He shouldn't have expected a different response.

After the brothers went their separate ways, Dean found himself at the Sheriff's office and he was able to take a look at the deceased's belongings. He had Callie's phone and he was looking for any insight of her boyfriend through the phone.

"Too many of these damned apps..." Dean mumbled as he looked at Snapchat where he managed to get a last name for this Dylan guy. Apparently his name was Dylan Bentley, and from what Dean could see, he was clearly not that committed to Callie.

Apparently Dylan had several different girls that he was following on Instagram, and who knew if he was messaging them or not. So, Dean went to Callie's messages and he found that there was an argument that didn't end very well. Dylan evidently didn't trust that Callie was staying loyal and he seemed to think you and Danielle were bad influences, and Callie would call him out on all of the girls he was following. Seemed like Callie wasn't the girl to take bullshit, but because the conversation on the phone stopped, Dean wondered if they had an in-person confrontation before Callie's death.

Either way, it was ridiculous relationship drama that Dean figured was enough to know that he and Sam needed to talk to Dylan and see if he was in any way involved with his girlfriend, or former girlfriend's, murder. Preferably as soon as possible. But judging by how late it was, he doubted that Dylan would be cooperative.

"Have you found anything interesting, Agent?" Dean heard the Sheriff ask and he glanced over.

"I believe I have. Do you know where I could find a Dylan Bentley?" Dean asked as he set the phone back down in the evidence pile.

"Oh, Dylan? Well if he's working tonight, you may be able to find him at 7-Eleven. I'm not sure when his shift ends though." He informed.

"7-Eleven. Got it. Thanks, Sheriff." Dean nodded and started walking out of the door. Then he pulled out his phone and started to call Sam.

"Dean? What did you find?" Sam asked on the other line while Dean was walking to the car again.

"Well, found out that Y/N's little friend was right. Dylan is someone we need to talk to like ASAP. Found out that he had some trust issues with Callie, but he wasn't exactly the most loyal of boyfriend's either. Must've been pretty toxic." Dean said.

"You think toxicity could lead to murder?" Sam asked and Dean shrugged to himself.

"In this day in age, who knows. But I think it's worth looking into. I'm heading to 7-Eleven now to see if Dylan's working tonight. What about you? Did you find anything useful?"

"Well, from what I can tell it's definitely a werewolf. Heart's gone and everything just like Mrs. Nelson." Sam said and Dean let out a hum.

"Do you think there could be some kind of connection?" Dean questioned.

"I dunno, Dean. I mean the only think connecting them is Nelson but I doubt Nelson had anything to do with their deaths. We even did the tests when we talked to him when we interviewed him about his wife, remember? He's not the werewolf."

"Still, you had Nelson's wife and someone that worked for him and now both of them are dead. That seems really weird to me."

"As weird as it is, Dylan may be the only lead we have if he's working tonight. Otherwise we may have to see if Nelson had connections with anybody or if there's been any other suspicious activity at the bar up until this point." Sam urged, and Dean knew that would mean he may have to talk to you again if you'd be willing to even be in the same room with him.

"Let me go hit the gas station first and see where that can get us first before we talk to Danielle and Y/N."

"Hey, why don't you come and pick me up and we can talk to Dylan? I'm done here anyway and I think I've got all I need from here." Sam spoke.

"Sure thing. See you in ten."

Sure enough, ten to fifteen minutes later both of the brothers were back in the car once more and they were on the road to the gas station to have a little chat with Callie's ex boyfriend. The two of them hopped out of the car and made their way inside.

Behind the counter, Dean saw a guy that was just barely in his thirties sitting on a stool on his phone. He scoffed to himself. Your friend dated a guy like this? He hoped that a guy like this wouldn’t end up being your type one day.

“Excuse me. Do you know where we could find Dylan Bentley?” Dean asked.

The man looked up and when he did, Dean got a better view of the nametag just as the man spoke up.

“That’s me. Is there something I can help you with?”

As if on cue, both Sam and Dean pulled out their FBI badges, “We need to talk to you about your girlfriend, Callie.”

“Callie? Uh… alright? Is everything okay?” Dylan asked as he put his phone in his pocket.

Dean wondered if the guy was feigning some sort of ignorance. Surely he had to know something was up with his girlfriend, right? Or ex-girlfriend he supposed he should say.

“Actually, sir, your girlfriend is dead. She was found this evening.” Dean said.

Dylan went wide-eyed with shock.

“What do you mean dead? I just talked to her a couple days ago.” Dylan said.

Sam and Dean both looked at each other, each of them wondering if Dylan would be a useful witness or not. But either way, both of them began their routine questioning. Although in the middle of questioning, Sam got a call.

When Sam walked away, Dean continued to talk to Dylan.

“So, Dylan… do you know of any enemies Callie could have had? Anyone that wanted to harm her in any way?” He asked and Dylan shook his head.

“You don’t exactly seem to broken up about her death. What happened between you two?” Dean continued, pretending like he didn’t know about the argument. Dylan sighed a little.

“Callie and I were rocky. Both of us had trust issues with each other and I knew it was only a matter of time before she and I would come to an end. I don’t think she really had any enemies, but I know she was outspoken. Maybe she offended some kind of customer and didn’t realize it.” Dylan said.

“Has she ever talked about troublesome customers before?” Dean continued.

“Well… there was this one night about a week and a half ago or so. Maybe two weeks ago. She and I wear catching up and ranting about our weeks and how shitty they were. The normal stuff. Then she started talking about these guys that came in. They wanted to talk to Nelson, the owner, but he wasn’t in the bar that day. They sat at the bar table and waited and waited, made Callie pretty uncomfortable.” Dylan began.

“And? What happened?”

“Well, Nelson finally showed up and they went to the back office to talk. Callie said the next thing they knew, there was some kind of fight and security had to break it up. The last thing she remembered them saying was that they’d destroyed everything he worked for, starting from the bottom up. From what Callie described, they seemed gruff looking, like they weren’t afraid to tear someone limb from limb if they had to. Maybe killing off the staff members first is what one of the guys meant by going from the bottom up.” Dylan spoke.

An uneasy feeling washed over Dean, but he by the time he started to think, Sam came back from the phone call.

“That was the Sheriff. One of the hostesses at the bar was found dead. Another connection to Nelson.” Sam said and that made the feeling in Dean’s stomach worsen.

“Thanks for your help, Dylan. Make sure to get home safe and lock your doors.” Dean spoke and both of the brothers walked out of the gas station.

“We need to get to Y/N and her friend and fast.” Sam said the words Dean was already thinking.

“A pack of werewolves are after Nelson’s business. We may need to ask around and see if Nelson had any enemies. Maybe he was a hunter and this was how he thought he was going to retire.” Dean hypothesized while his brother nodded.

“Maybe he ticked off a pack some years ago and now they’re finally getting their revenge when Nelson least expects it. Either way, they’re going after the hosts and bartenders first before they go for kitchen staff judging from their pattern. We need to get to them now.”

With that, Dean pressed harder on the gas and just hoped that he wouldn’t be too late.

Danielle finally went to sleep in your guest bedroom, but you decided to stay up. It’s not like you’d be able to sleep that night anyway even if you tried. Not with everything that’s happened that day. A part of you felt like this was some really messed up nightmare and you just wanted to wake up from it.

Unfortunately, though, this was your reality. The guy that still had a small piece of your heart stomped on it, and one of your coworkers- your friend- was horrifically killed.

So no… a decent night’s sleep was out of the cards.

You still wanted to know what could have done something like this? What if the police would end up being wrong? Maybe it was some kind of serial killer that was making it look like some kind of animal attack. Although, you couldn’t understand why a serial killer would need to take the hearts from their victims. Maybe it would be some sort of sick trophy?

Morbid…

You shook your head as you tried not to think about it too much. It was too brutal and gruesome for your liking so you were truly trying your best not to linger on it so much.

Instead, you broke put your sketchbook and decided to work on some drafts for a cover of a book you were commissioned to draw. She hadn’t given you a due date yet but you still liked working on the concept art early to see what the author wanted. After all, it was your job to bring their imagination to life in the most desirable way possible.

You were sitting down on the windowsill with sketchbook in hand, beside you there was a nightstand with a mug of tea. You had a DVD player across from you playing Save Me by Remy Zero, remembering the phase you had watching a show called Smallville. Tom Welling’s Clark Kent was a cutie. Why couldn’t you find a Clark?

Oh well.

As you listened to the song, you continued to draw different ideas. Then you began to outline your work when you started to hear a knock on the door.

You shrugged it off at first, thinking it was a neighbor’s door or maybe you were hearing something. But then the knock occurred again, causing you to let out a soft groan of annoyance and you set your sketchbook to the side. Then you got up and started walking to the door. You made sure to look through the peephole, being cautious since there were two people dead. After all, you didn’t exactly want to be next.

The moment you looked through the window you saw a familiar face, though it wasn’t exactly the best feeling you got when you saw this person again. A familiar guy in a cheap suit with green eyes and the short hair that sort of reminds you of some sort of hedgehog or something. Beside him there was that taller agent that must’ve been his partner. How wonderful…

Slowly, you opened the door and you saw them there.

“Agents. Don’t you know how late it is?” You asked and kept the door partially shut.

“Y/N, please? We need to talk to you. And Danielle. Do you know where she is?” Dean asked and you rolled your eyes.

“Yeah, she’s here asleep. Like any other normal person.” You retorted, trying to keep your voice down so you wouldn’t wake up your friend.

“Y/N, we need to get you out of here. Both you and Danielle and we need to get you both somewhere safe. Like now.” Dean insisted and you started getting confused.

“Uh, why? She and I are perfectly fine. It’s just a freak animal attack that’s happened twice, right?”

“Actually, we think something else might be going on.” The taller explained and you lifted a brow.

“Something else? What else could there be?”

“We uh.. we aren’t exactly at liberty to say but we have reason to believe you and your friend might be next.” Dean’t partner continued.

“Y/N? What’s going on?” You turned around when you heard Danielle’s voice form behind you so you had to think fast.

“Danielle, I think you need to go back to your boyfriend’s tonight. One of these agents will be there with you both. They think there’s something up.” You tried to explain as vaguely as possible.

“What? What do you both think is happening? Are we going to be okay?” Danielle began to ask.

“Nothing’s gonna happen to either of you. I promise. My name is Sam, I’ll take you back to your place house and watch over you. Consider it as witness protection. My partner will be watching over Y/N to make sure she’ll be alright too.” Sam continued.

Of course. Why did you have to be paired off with Dean? You didn’t need protecting. You knew how to keep your doors and windows locked, you knew not to allow anyone in the house. And you thought you could defend yourself at least enough to get away from someone or something. You definitely weren’t looking forward to the awkward silences, but who were you to argue with the FBI, right?

You watched at Dean handed his partner the keys to the car but you couldn’t help but to notice the reluctance in Dean’s face. You could tell he wasn’t looking forward to the tension either.

Danielle looked back at you with a worried expression on her features and you smiled slightly, “Don’t worry. They’re agents, I’m sure they’ve dealt with this kind of thing all the time. They know what they’re doing.”

You saw reluctance in her eyes but your friend nodded nonetheless before she walked out of the door with Sam, leaving you and Dean alone in the room. Just the two of you. By yourselves.

This was going to be a long night….

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loudmound · 2 months

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hi. welcome to my mary shepherd-sunderland post.

what will follow is who i think she is as a character, what she means to the narrative of sh2, and why people should think and talk about her more bcs me and the 4 other mary fans are dying out here.

DISCLAIMER BEFORE WE BEGIN: a lot of this post will be enmeshed with interpretation and headcanon that draws from me analyzing the text of sh2. this is My Post about mary. stormy mary post. please understand this.

the foundation of mary's character is an exceptionally strong one, and for someone like me, i enjoy making inferences about her person before the illness, during the illness, and near the end. the personality she has in sh2 is flexible enough to allow what i imagine her to have been like in my mind's eye.

i do not want this post to be read as the Definitive Canonical Interpretation of mary. i am just doing my best to inform my analysis of mary with the text as well as building from that set foundation given to us as the audience.

with that out of the way, please enjoy.

PART ONE: MARY AS A CONCEPT

what exists of mary is filtered through the lens of memory before the cumulative letter in the respective endings we receive it. throughout sh2, her status and state of being is re-contextualized as her husband moves closer and closer to the truth of the matter. she is an individual wrapped in idealistic fantasy that is slowly and surely stripped away the longer the game goes along, and the more we actualize her as the person she once was.

this element of conceptualization and fantasy is a through-line in sh2's narrative. mary is everywhere james looks in his version of the town. she's in the rot and rust on the walls, she's in the monsters he fights and runs from, she's in the places he goes, her face and voice is maria's, and she even has some of her memories and personality traits. it is truly understated how much mary just... IS in sh2, in spite of her not being physically present.

there's also this dichotomy i've been thinking about in the inability for mary and james to exist outside of one another, thematically speaking. for fundamentally being two different people, they are inextricably tied to one another in a really unfortunate and tragic way. james grafts himself to mary's memory before her sickness and slowly begins to resent the woman she's become out of anything but her own volition, and mary grafts herself to james because... she has to.

she's sick, she's dying, she's largely bedridden and in constant pain. she cannot rely on herself anymore; she has to rely on the people around her to take care of her, and when she inevitably goes home to live out whatever time she has left... it's james she has to rely on. and while i think james finds immense comfort and pleasure in living in the past they had while refuting the present, mary is thoroughly imbedded in the present and resents the past by means of something that she can no longer have. neither of them can, but i've always interpreted mary to be a very pragmatic and proactive individual.

she discusses in her letter how pathetic and ugly she feels, how she waits in her cocoon of pain and loneliness that's been grafted onto her unwillingly while she waits for james to visit her, and it's clear to me that she is the kind of individual that puts so much emphasis on being a useful and beautiful woman. that is what gives her worth as a human being within the society in which she lives (late 80s usa in my opinion). canonically, she is a housewife, and while that certainly coheres, i'm of the belief that she was a woman who worked outside the home as well, but also someone who did not do enough unpacking to really get away from gendered roles expected of her.

i really do believe that she feels she failed james spectacularly as a partner, but also as a wife; therein, as a person in his life. both of them dealt with their own baggage regarding gendered expectations, but mary in particular's is incredibly potent and crushing if you actualize her as someone who, in turn, wanted to be the perfect wife to james. kind, patient, nurturing, submissive, etc.

of course, as we all know, the perfect wife/woman/whatever you want it to be, is an unattainable concept, because how can anybody human like mary exist within such ridiculous, reductive parameters?

PART TWO: MARY AS A PERSON

so, in that case, who was mary, then? who was she, if not this idealized vision of a wife long lost?

as i've alluded to before, i envision her as a very pragmatic and proactive person; in the video tape of her, she seems very playful and outgoing, but also contemplative, appreciative, and straightforward. i've always seen her as a very different person from james in regards to how she navigates through life.

she's comparatively much more outward and readily emotional, but seems to retain a level of quiet interiority that meshes very well with james' very inward attitude. a very typical "bubbly wife and stoic husband" sort of situation on the surface, but i've always thought that mary greatly appreciated having james as an emotional anchor of sorts; somebody who can soothe the more keyed-up aspects of her personality, given how quiet and easygoing he is.

given how she mentions how angry she was all the time at the advent of learning of her incumbent death, i view her as somebody who really does not like being out of control of her own life. she has an idea of how she wants things to be and she wants them done the way she has already since chosen. (do not interrupt her routines. she will get very irritated.) she's very particular, and i think she's had to learn how not to just take the reigns from somebody else if she perceives them to be going about something "incorrectly" because this particular flaw has led to some arguments/falling-outs with loved ones in the past.

in that particular vein, holy fuck is this woman a fixer. she needs to fix everything she possibly can. the sink's busted? don't worry, she's had a lifetime of fixing shitty plumbing in her childhood home because nobody else bothered. need a couple more bucks for gas? don't worry, she always keeps a few extra dollars on her because she knows what it's like to be a few short and not have anyone else to turn to that you can trust.

you've been deeply traumatized and scarred by your adverse childhood experiences and it's left you with maladaptive and dysfunctional coping mechanisms? don't worry, she'll be there for you, in sickness and in health.

to me, mary's the kind of person that likes seeing the fruits of her labor, too. she takes great pride in being as self-sufficient at she has been, and does very much enjoy sharing that with others as much as she can. genuinely, i think she's very giving and compassionate, but jesus, when it came to james when he was struggling (before she got sick), it certainly got a bit dire. using your wife for free emotional labor is one thing, but when that wife welcomes it for a while because she has a pervasive desire to fix everything, including you? yeah.

also, of course, mary felt a pertinent obligation to doing such, being The Wife and all, but she's also a human person and got exhausted dealing with the amount of baggage her husband had, and their relationship got pretty rocky because of james' unwillingness to seek professional help (stemming from trauma with the laughable us-healthcare system) and mary's unwillingness to recant over and over again what she has in her toolbox.

which is where silent hill comes in. a belated honeymoon of sorts, mary and james take a trip to take their mind off the doom-inspiring monotony that is domestic life, and it's great!

until it isn't.

PART THREE: TERMINAL ILLNESS

so, the nature of mary's illness has never been clearly stated canonically, but we know that it gave her a persistent cough, rendered her bedbound, made her hair fall out, and made lumps grow all over her skin. i'm of the belief that she had hansen's disease, but cancer is also incredibly plausible too.

hansen's disease is one of those things that can lie dormant for years, and it can sometimes take a decade for symptoms to surface, so i don't think it was really a matter of mary catching anything from silent hill, per se. (i do think toluca lake has just the most godawful brain-eating bacteria in it but that's aside the point.) it's definitely a curable disease, but perhaps the strain mary had was a particularly severe variant. point being, however, is that this thing ruined her inside and out.

in the beginning stages, (year 1 or so) i do think she was pretty touchy, emotionally speaking. she tries to keep up appearances as much as she can and is able to, but it's clear that something has shifted for the worst. she's much more somber in the moments of quiet. her contemplative nature turns to brooding. she smiles, still, but her smiles are undoubtedly laced with a wry, bitter sadness.

she's now toiling with thoughts of dying as a way out, too. it'd be easier if they'd just kill me, she laments at one point. simultaneously at the crux of wanting freedom from one's pain in death but terrified of said death as being eternal, too.

it's something you can't ever undo.

now... i'd say a pretty controversial aspect of mary's character during this period of time is whether or not she was abusive towards james during her illness. cases have been made, it's a fairly ambiguous situation as presented in-game, but i think mary's anger that she expressed was quiet, overall. she tried to keep it quiet, at least, and when she did lash out, it was almost always in part due to her newfound level of self-loathing. when she's yelling at james in that hallway, she's yelling at herself more than she is at him.

she's no longer a person, to herself and to others around her that treat her like a dying animal than the woman that she is; the woman that she used to be. i'd be livid if i were her, too!

she also mentions in her letter that she "struck out at everyone she loved most." i have very strong reason to believe that she loved laura, and that unfortunately, she too was caught in the crossfire of mary's mood swings/outbursts. i also think that the guilt mary expresses when we're listening to the hallway conversation is genuine; i don't think her outburst and subsequent apology was a manipulation tactic to make james feel bad.

i think she's genuinely suffering. she doesn't know what to do with these compounding negative feelings. she has nowhere to put them. james comes in at a bad time and becomes the target. after the damage has been done, she realizes this and crumbles immediately. she's hurt james. she needs to do damage control however she can.

of course, none of this is to say that women can't ever be abusive/abusers and we can have conversations about the nuances of that all day, but... it's disquieting to me to see a consistent reading of a terminally ill female character's torment and anger be read as "abusive" to further exonerate the male character's deed of murdering her. like, i think we should consider that for a bit. i think we can hold that mary's behavior was not the best, but james' wasn't, either.

mary waited for him, but he never comes. he stays away, festering in his own grief, mourning her before she's even passed. i see james' aversion to seeing her in large part as a trauma response due to past abuse while growing up; when she shouts at him like that, it drags all of those ugly feelings and memories up.

it's a relationship i see as something that was mutually declining. it was something that was left to die. much like mary was, in a lot of ways.

mary was terrified that james hated her. that she disgusted him with her appearance, that he pitied her for being ill and effectively useless to him. that was something plaintively out of her control, being in the hospital. james could've ripped the bandage off and braved seeing her. he could've talked to her. he could've rekindled what was deteriorating. but he didn't.

again, mary's proactive nature of yearning for james, wanting to see him, wanting to talk to him and talk about them and what to do when the time comes. she wants to figure this out as best she can.

but james doesn't, and he still never comes.

mary poured everything left in her that she could muster in that letter. she profusely apologized for everything, for things that weren't even her fault to begin with. she told james that she loved him in that letter, because she couldn't say it to him to his face any longer. she didn't know if she would have any time left to do such.

but she does. and however long later, he kills her.

mary isn't a perfect victim, nobody that's a victim in sh2 is supposed to be. but she is still an individual that deserves compassion nonetheless, and i think the game does its due diligence in getting that across.

PART FOUR: MARIA

i think have to at least touch upon maria a bit if you're writing a post about mary. i think that's just the way it is.

maria, as we know, is a manifestation created by silent hill as a means to confront/interrogate/"punish" james by emulating mary but with very... choice character design changes.

she's clad in leopard print and a cropped red blouse. she's a dancer at heaven's night. she has bleach blonde hair with the roots peeking in. her face is all done up. she still extroverted, but far more provocative and alluring. she's a fantasy; something unattainable.

but she could be yours in whatever way you want her to be!

maria is utterly fascinating as an interrogation of james' character, but also as a reflection of mary, too. in born from a wish, she expresses her fear of pain and death, of being alone in town with no one else around, while also toiling with suicidal ideation. (sound familiar?) she seeks out companionship in whatever form it takes, and jumps on it when she does find it in ernest.

how much of mary is maria has always been up for debate and forever will be, but i think a lot of mary lives within her. the obvious, being the memories that she has of laura and the video tape left in the lakeview hotel, her hot and cold behavior with james, but also in the existential misery she feels in born from a wish. that desire to die to escape the pain of feeling alone, but also wanting to be with somebody else more than anything, and how death would undoubtedly take that away.

i also think her dyed hair isn't even hers; mary had that haircut and dye job when she first met james at that house party all those years ago.

i think maria's standing as a sentient individual is true, but in the sense that she is the combination of both mary and james' baggage made sentient. she never truly existed for herself, as her own person. she'll always have a little bit of someone else in her, someone she doesn't even really know, and that's... utterly tragic.

i think she realized this too when she points that gun to her head. but she chose james anyways out of that same desire for companionship. maybe she could be his new mary. maybe she could be better than mary. it's truly all so fuck.

PART FIVE: CONCLUSION

mary is the reason why sh2 happens for james. full stop. you cannot have sh2 without mary. there is a foundation laid for you to examine and explore. she is as infinitely fascinating as james is, if not more so. join me.

this post is sprawling and probably a bit confused at times because i wrote it on a whim, but i HOPE that i was able to get across the larger ideas of why i love mary as a character and who she could've been before her illness and death. i didn't touch upon everything i possibly could (mary and laura's relationship deserves its own post, i think), but this post is already long enough. i'll edit it in the future, undoubtedly.

thank you so much for reading all the way. listen to her final letter and cry with me.

#mary shepherd sunderland #james sunderland #maria #maria silent hill #silent hill #silent hill 2 #sh2 #stormy shouts #like i said in the conclusion i think mary and laura's relationship is deserving of its own post #i would've loved to get into it here but uh. this post is already very long.#that's where interpretation plays too #talking abt silent hill... showing laura all her photos... loving her like her own daughter... ugh it's so heartrending #anyways. this one's for my maryheads

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lokisprettygirl · 8 months

Text

Brokenhearted (Daemon Targaryen x Female Reader) (Non Canon Modern AU) (18+)

Read Chapter 12 here // Series Masterlist

Chapter 13

Summary: Samantha's threat and Daemon's growing popularity brings you trouble.

Warning: 18+, Smut, Angst, violent thoughts, stalking, Discussion of mensuration and Pregnancy, bloodshed, flashbacks of abusive relationship, toxic masculinity, sexual abuse, Samantha, traumatic distressing content, Daemon is a big time smoker so if it’s something triggering don’t read it, alcohol drinking, mention of past trauma and therapy, cigarette smoking, possessive behaviour, violence, baby needs therapy, baby is trying

"Hey" you cupped his cheeks, being careful to avoid the bruises on his face, you hated how he seemed after a fight, so bruised and broken, all you wanted to do was take him to your bed and treat him tenderly. The conversation you had with Viserys just now had made you feel conflicted, you wanted to tell Daemon but you didn't know how he'd react, you didn't want to add to his traumas as he already had more than enough of his share. Realizing that something had happened to him when he wasn't even in his senses would crush him.

You pecked on his lips softly so he pulled away and looked at you curiously,

"I'm not fragile darling, kiss me like you mean it" he mumbled against your mouth so you clutched your fingers around his messy braided hair and kissed him as passionately as you could before you had to pull away to catch your breaths.

"I don't see you as fragile Daemon, you have the most persevering soul i have ever known of but is it wrong of me to want to treat you with care?" you whispered softly so he smiled, the kind of smile that made your heart warm and giddy.

"You flatter me darling, I love that" he pulled you even closer if it was possible and rubbed his nose against yours "I do enjoy your care and your delicate touches against my skin, I really do" he whispered before he kissed you again.

Before things could get heated you made him take a shower because he had to show up for an event and you wanted to wait until you were both in his room. He wasn't the only one with pent up sexual frustration but you didn't want a quickie like last time, you really wanted to love him and please him the way he deserved.

The talk with Viserys was looming over your head, Daemon had to compete in the finale after five days but Samantha had something against him that could ruin it for him, his reputation could take a hit and he'd definitely be prodded over the accusation meticulously which in turn would affect his concentration..

While Daemon was busy with the meet and greet, Viserys caught up with you again.

"Can I ask you a question?' You asked him so he nodded "Why does it matter now? I mean it happened years ago..it's not that big of a deal right?" You asked him so he sighed.

"She's just trying to stir up the controversy, get people to doubt his abilities..I don't think he's ready for that. It took him so long to even return to the sport, god knows how he'd react to this" He answered you in plain and simple words, Daemon was unpredictable in his actions especially when it concerned Samantha.

"So what do we do?" You asked him and he shook his head in defeat, he had no answer, they could take the matter to the court but then everything will come out in the open, every ugly truth from Daemon's past will be investigated and that was the last thing his little brother would want for himself. He knew him far too well to understand that Daemon wouldn't want his past out in the open like that.

"Well ..You know what she wants"

You turned your head to look at him as he said that, frankly a bit appalled by the suggestion.

"You're joking right I'm not letting her hurt him again or be near him anywhere..we should just go to the court, file a case against her" you said to him, your voice came out all agitated and irked. Viserys didn't blame you for that either, he knew what he was suggesting would hurt you.

"He wouldn't want that" Viserys said to you, making you shake your head in disbelief.

"Why not?"

Why won't Daemon want justice? You didn't understand that.

Daemon was at the booth signing cards and meeting his fans but he could see you and Viserys talking from a distance, he couldn't help but wonder what you two were discussing, his curiosity was piqued to say the least. Viserys liked you as a person, he had made it clear, he never really liked Samantha even when Daemon was smitten with her, maybe it was Viserys's own experiences with Allison that he had warned him that she wasn't the woman for him but at the time he was too obsessed with her to pay any heed to Viserys's concern. He wished now that he had listened.

Once the event ended, he took you out for dinner but he could tell you weren't entirely there with him, you seemed lost in your head.

'Something wrong?' He asked you as he chomped on his salad so you smiled,

"Nooo..why?"

"Just..you seem lost" he shrugged as if he wasn't affected by your behavior.

"I'm not lost..just thinking about you"

Well, That wasn't a complete lie.

"Thinking about me? I'm right here darling"

"I know"

He smiled as you said that.

"Do you remember the night we met?" He asked you so you hummed in response, for a moment you didn't respond, your mind went back to reminisce about the night.

"I'll never forget..my knight in black hood..what about it?"

"Nothing..just..glad i was there is all"

A smile graced your features at his words,

"So am I"

You couldn't have gotten any luckier that night.

As you both returned to the privacy of your room he kissed you and you took his jacket off before he picked you up and laid down on the bed with you right on top of him,

"I like you alot" he smiled as his fingers tucked your hair behind your ears,

"I thought you loved me" you made a pout and he pressed his thumb on your puckered lips.

"I do..but I loved Samantha as well and I didn't like her at all..you however..I like you..alot, more than anything"

As soon as you realized what he meant you leaned down and kissed him, never in your life a man had made you feel this way. Never in your life have you been made to feel so loved and important.

"I like you alot too mister"

"I know you do"

You unbuttoned his shirt and his breath hitched in his chest, the position wasn't something he felt comfortable with, he had never allowed a woman to control the situation in that way after everything he had been through.

"You okay?" You asked him softly so with bated breaths he looked into your eyes, your fingers were still undoing the buttons all the way down before you unbuckled his belt.

"I am just ..not comfortable with this darling" as soon as he said that you quickly made him sit up by grabbing onto his arms.

"It's okay..you can always tell me you know that right?" Your fingers curled around his neck as you kissed him. He nodded in response before he slowly flipped you underneath him.

"It's not that i don't want to ..I just..need time love" the pad of his thumb caressed your cheekbones as he whispered.

"All the time in the world baby"

He kissed you again as you finished your words.

All the time in the world? Daemon wanted that. He really wanted that. Even though he knew forever was a myth.

"Make love to me now handsome" you rubbed his lips with your fingertips and you could see his cheeks reddening, something you said made Daemon Targaryen blush. You never thought you'd see that day.

"Mmm are you going to take it like a good girl?" He grabbed your chin with his thumb and forefingers, the gesture made you bite on your lips involuntarily. Every time he dominated you in bed you felt like a submissive girl willing to do anything for her daddy. He just had that sort of effect on you.

"Yess sir" he shook his head as you said that.

"Call me daemon sweet thing"

He wasn't rough with you, not that he didn't want to but you asked him to make love to you and he wanted to love you the way you deserved to be loved. He felt your hands all over him but his mind felt numb with pleasure whenever you caressed his scalp, just the way you touched him so tenderly never failed to warm his heart.

He was so in love with you, a feeling he had sworn to never feel again, he just wished he was able to express it better than this, he wished he was able to live up to the love you had for him in your heart.

That night you slept peacefully but the next morning you woke up to a spicy headline in the entertainment section "Breaking News: Professional UFC Fighter Daemon Targaryen and his Scandal-Filled Shocking Past"

Daemon was everywhere because of his stint in the international league, normally it wouldn't have made such a stir in the media but he was special, your special boy. He had made a miraculous return to the brutal sport after years and nobody was expecting him to even clear the qualifier round, let alone have him in the finals. The sudden increase in his popularity of course came with its unwanted side effects. His past would always haunt him but this time it wasn't Samantha, it was some other woman he had dated during his hoe phase, her name was Diana.

Diana claimed to have had a six-week fling with Daemon three years ago. The article included the link of a Reddit thread she had created, in which she described their intimate encounters in excruciating detail. She rambled on about how he was the most arrogant man she has ever known in her life, she also claimed that he was emotionally abusive towards her.

You knew Daemon and his mood swings were not uncommon, you could understand in a way as how she must have made that assumption that he was abusive but daemon wasn't abusive, he was toxic for sure because of everything he has been through but he didn't lie or promised anything, he was honest with you and you knew he was honest with every other woman before you.

The post had gone viral pretty quickly because she posted a selfie of them together at a club, he seemed so sexy and so intoxicated, there were few other women who came forward in Diana's support to tell everyone that Daemon Targaryen was everything that was wrong with the world.

On that particular thread when another user asked why she stayed with him for weeks if he was so offensive and rude to her, she replied 'Because he was a god in bed'

Well that was true at least.

'How are we going to tackle this?"

Daemon' asked his newly appointed publicist James, he didn't want people talking about him like this, he didn't enjoy such gossip on his name. He didn't even look at the article or read the thread, he was not at all interested, you on the other hand obsessively went through every comment on that post.

You were just watching him converse with his publicist as well as Viserys who was in the hotel room with you two.

His publicist had asked him to just put out an apology statement which he denied quickly, he didn't want to apologize for what had happened between him and those women. As other people left the room he took a cigarette out and lit it up immediately, he was stressed you could tell, every time he reached for a cigarette with such desperation you knew he was extremely stressed and in need of comfort that he'd never ask for.

"Do you remember her?" You asked him as he sat down next to you on the couch,

"I don't want to talk about it" you nodded as he said that and got up from the couch to give him some space but he grabbed your hand and looked up at you .

"Don't be upset" he gave you unintended puppy eyes so you smiled.

"I'm not upset" you cupped his cheeks and leaned down to kiss his forehead.

"Then sit down, don't leave"

"Okay..I just thought you needed space" you sat down next to him so he sighed.

"Not from you..never from you"

"Okay..I'm here then" you smiled as you linked your fingers with his, he put the cigarette out and leaned his head against the couch, those bruises on his face looked worse somehow today.

"I do remember her ..5 '10, brunette, she was young" he told you so you hummed in response as you thought about her, you were more than happy that he wanted to talk about her instead of acting as if he wasn't bothered at all by this nuisance.

"How young?" You questioned.

"Barely in her early twenties at the time, I didn't know that when I–" he looked at you so you smiled,

"Took her home and had sex?" You asked him softly. This wasn't making you feel jealous at all, you didn't feel it, not a smidgen of jealousy.

"Yeah..she looked older in the club"

"It's alright she wasn't a child" he nodded as you said that.

"What was she like?" You cleared your throat so he snickered before his expressions turned serious,

"She was just a girl darling…just another girl"

"Do you remember everyone you have slept with?" You questioned him again,

"Who do you think I am darling? A harlot?" he chuckled before he resumed speaking "Course I remember..those flings never ended in one night stands, they all stuck around for a while, you know i enjoy stability" he said in a nonchalant manner, his voice was devoid of any emotion.

"Did you like any of them?"

"Sexually..yeah I liked all of them" You bit on your cheeks as he said that. Still not jealous, not at all.

"Emotionally?" You asked him sheepishly so he smiled and tilted his head to the side to gauge your expressions.

"Are you jealous sweetheart?"

"Maybe .. I am" your voice came out in a whisper, you didn't want to admit it so quickly.

"I'm glad you're not pretending to feel otherwise," You narrowed your eyes as he said that, "There was one…before you ..but I wasn't obsessed with her. I didn't want to get involved in that way, but she…was different from the others...had to move to LA so we ended on okay terms unlike those other chicks"

Okay you were ready to accept that you were a complete jealous mess now.

"Does she have a name?"

"Miranda" you gulped as he answered quickly as if her name was on the tip of his tongue. To think of him feeling such affections for some other woman boiled your blood.

"Why don't you want to apologize? I mean.. It's just a statement" you asked to steer the conversation so he shook his head.

"Exactly..it's a statement.. apologizing means i did something wrong with them" you nodded as he said that "I never lied, or lured them under false pretenses. They knew what they were getting in from the first day" you agreed as he said that, you also knew what you were getting into because he told you loud and clear but you also knew that you were the first one to fall for him and break that 'no strings attached" code. Maybe those girls wanted more with him as well.

"Yeah you told me the same on our first night together"

You said to him so he thought about it for a moment, maybe he was a jerk to those women he dated casually but he wasn't going to apologize for that or give any justification for his behaviour, he didn't want anyone to see that side of him, to think of him as someone who acted out like a child because he was abused by a girl he loved. He didn't want the world to see him as a victim.

"I did"

"But things have changed between us, maybe they just wanted to change things you know ..fix you ..girls see a emotionally reclusive bad boy and suddenly develop the 'I can fix him' problem"

He chuckled as you said that. The smirk on his face made him look so goddamn annoying and so fuckable at the same time.

"Did you have that problem?" He asked, his voice dripping with smugness.

"Maybe" you got up again so he grabbed your hand and pulled you right on his lap,

"Emotionally reclusive bad boy huh?" He grabbed your chin with his fingers and kissed you passionately until you were struggling to breathe in his mouth. When he finally pulled away you took a deep breath to allow the oxygen to reach your brain.

"You know what I mean"

"Have your opinions changed since then?" He asked you curiously,

"Well you're still a bad boy sometimes"

"For the world yeah" you smiled as he said that "As much as I enjoy watching you burn green with jealousy, you need not feel so. You're my girl, my only one, what you have done for me–"

"I have done nothing -" you cut him off and then he did the same to you.

"Shhhhh you never let me finish my words you know that?"

He pressed his thumb on your lips as he spoke sternly to you, his tone was authoritative, brows were furrowed in slight frustration. You knew he was going to fuck you as soon as this conversation was done and over with.

"Sorry" you mumbled meakly, making the corner of his mouth curved into a smile.

"After that bitch I had sworn to myself that I'd never make the same mistake again but then I met you ..you changed everything for me ..I'm here today because of you" you sighed as he said that. You didn't want to take credit for everything, it didn't feel right or deserved, besides you didn't want him to be with you just because you have supposedly done something for him..

"Daemon you know I love you.. but I don't want you to love me because you feel that you havee to love me" one of his brows raised as you said that.

"That is what you got from what I said?" He asked you as he looked in your eyes intently but you didn't respond "You're such a silly girl you know that?" he cupped your cheeks with his large hands and kissed you lovingly before he spoke again,

"I know I'm not the most expressive bloke but you're not an obligation for me..I am not in love with you because you're here whenever I need you. I'm in love with you because you make me want to be here with you all the time, you make me wish i could spend every fucking second of my life with you" your arms wrapped around his neck as he finished speaking.

You had your insecurities as well, you didn't feel enough for him, even more so now that you have seen how women were reacting to him. Yeah some people were put off by his arrogance but most were turned on by his prowess in the bedroom arena. The more famous he gets the more attention he will have on him, you didn't want to lose his attention or lose him to some other temptations. You didn't think you'd be able to come out unscathed if he was the one to break your heart in that way.

This feeling combined with what you knew about Samantha was enough to make you feel stressed out of your mind.

"I am scared of losing you" you mumbled softly so his grip around your waist tightened "I control myself alot ..with you" he looked at you confused as you said that.

"What do you mean love?"

"I can get emotionally clingy and it's not good ..not for me.. especially not for you"

"You can cling to me darling..it won't bother me..I'll do anything for you" you placed your palm on his lips as he said that.

"Don't say that ..I don't need such power over you"

He smiled at your words, that was the whole reason why Samantha was able to manipulate him and then ruin him slowly. She was able to do it because he allowed her to do it.

"Alright but you need to let loose love, I'm all yours i promise..why are you so anxious hmm..I can feel it" your eyes teared up as he said that, he then hugged you as warmly as he could, as tightly as possible without suffocating you both.

"I'm just .. being silly, I'm your silly girl" he couldn't help but smile. He adored you, completely and hopelessly.

"That you are, though is it an ailment a good fucking can cure?"

"Mmmm maybe"

He quickly laid you down on the couch as you said that, his shirt was off his body in one quick motion, he wasn't a foreplay type of guy but then he kissed you tenderly, so slowly and sensually, soft fleeting kisses that made your brain turn into a mush, he didn't stop until he had you squirming and humping against him for some friction against your core.

He placed his arms on the head of the couch as he shoved his cock in your wet warm slippery cunt, his thrusts were torturous, every moment of his hips was sluggish and deliberate. He enjoyed the look of ecstasy on your face, he kept his eyes on you as he drew several orgasms out of you, one after another.

He was so in love with you and he never wanted to hurt you, he really didn't want to hurt you but he knew he was going to do so, he just thought he had more time with you, he didn't want to fuck it up so easily, so quickly..he wanted forever with you.

But the moment the truth about what you and Viserys were hiding from him was revealed to him, he knew he was going to break your heart and hurt you. He was going to do everything he had promised not to do to you. He had to leave you and he knew it was a decision he'd regret for the rest of his full life.

🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍

Taglist (please check your setting if I’m not able to tag you)

@simbaaas-stuff @ajthefujoshi @witchybitch2 @hypocritic-trash-baby @mariaelizabeth21-blog1 @thefallenangel21n @kmc1989

@stupidthoughtsinwriting

#daemon targaryen #daemon targaryen x reader #daemon targaryen x female reader #daemon Targaryen x reader smut #daemon x reader angst #daemon targaryen x reader fluff #non canon au #modern au

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delusinaldreamer19 · 1 month

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Sebaciel vs. Dadbastian, an analytical essay (not really)

Oh boy am I excited and terrified to start this discussion.

I’m just going to say right off the bat that I am absolutely biased towards one interpretation of Sebastian and Ciel’s relationship over the other, that being Dadbastian. However, my goal is not to criticize, but to analyze and point out the differences and, yes, correlations between the two versions of their relationship.

I’m going to start off by making a disgustingly blatant assumption about the reason why I believe both of these pairings exist in the form of a theory...Both the idea of Sebaciel and Dadbastian are coping mechanisms taken on by fans of the series to grapple with how dark the character’s canonical relationship truly is.

Now, I can’t speak for how much this really applies to Sebaciel shippers, as I am not one. But it certainly applies to me as someone who enjoys the idea of Dadbastian.

Let's start with the correlations that support this theory. Both of these concepts are versions of Sebastian and Ciel’s relationship that is more positive than it actually is. The plot of black Butler revolves around the fact that Ciel sold his soul to the demon he named Sebastian, and that upon their contract's completion Sebastian will kill Ciel and consume his soul as compensation. It’s a relationship that is predatory, manipulative, and just simply toxic for a plethora of reasons. While the manga is still ongoing so we have no definitive way of knowing exactly how their story will end, I don’t think it's controversial to say that it's very unlikely to have a happy ending.

Even so, black butler is a comfort series for many, including myself. But how is that possible?

By looking at the series as a whole and the characters through different lenses. A pro and con of black butler is that it’s very easy to interpret in many different ways, and the same applies to the relationship between Sebastian and Ciel.

I’d say there's 2 to 3 main ways that people have interpreted their relationship. In no particular order… - As it is in the series, where it’s strictly based on business and mutual benefit. They work together so that Ciel can get his revenge and Sebastian gets his soul. - Them being friends / frenemies - A ship, where they have romantic feelings for each other. (I’m not going to be discussing how people ship them for sexual reasons, as that's a topic for a different day.) - And Parental, where Sebastian serves as a father/mother (no I'm not specifying which) figure towards Ciel. I'm focusing on the latter two, obviously.

There’s one commonality between these two interpretations; Sebastian caring about Ciel (and vice-versa, but you'll see in a moment why that's not as relevant). There is loving nature to both, but romantic and parental love are not the same thing. So why, baseline, do both these versions exist?

My thought is that they both remove the main cause of distress in their canon relationship. Which is, you guessed it, Sebastian. More specifically his feelings/intentions towards Ciel. By creating scenarios where something changes his intentions of ultimately killing Ciel, it creates the illusion that there's a possibility that the series could have a happier outcome in the end, and a happy ending for Ciel.

Which brings in a new idea. Ciel, being the main character that we follow, despite having his own complex character, serves as the…how should I put this…automatic ‘self-insert’ for people. He goes through/has gone through trauma & struggles that people can relate to and see themselves in. That's why there is a strong desire to see him have a positive outcome through these two different relationships with Sebastian, because as a reader/viewer it will feel like we ourselves are experiencing that positive outcome.

See? Coping mechanism : )

Now here's where things get tricky…Discussing the differences between these two types of relationships. Ok, I could probably find a way to say this that's long and fancy, but I’m just going to be super straight forward. This is as an absolute read, I apologize :’) People ship Sebaciel because they want someone to love them, where they picture themselves as Ciel with Sebastian as the one loving him romantically. People like the idea of Dadbastian because they long for a parent's affection, where they picture themselves as Ciel being cared for by Sebastian.

Now, this is definitely just a theory, and absolutely not the only reasons why people come up with and enjoy each of these interpretations. But the Dadbastian one most definitely applies to me.

Here’s where my own opinion comes into play. Only one of these relationships is really ‘positive’ in nature. Both of these relationships when applied to the canon would be problematic in their own ways, but when looking at it outside of the context of the series and its plot, a parental relationship between Sebastian and Ciel, a thirteen year old boy and an adult figure, is more healthy than a romantic relationship between a thirteen year old boy and an adult figure. Please don’t make me explain why :’)

I’m really hoping this reaches the right audience. I’m not trying to start a war or offend anyone, just share my thoughts and an outlook that I haven’t really seen from the black butler fanbase before.

#black butler #kuroshitsuji #sebastian michaelis #ciel phantomhive #I don't really want to tag this as Sebaciel or antiSebaciel #I'm trying to pretend I'm neutral on the topic #but I'm not so #antisebaciel #please don't tear me to shred's #I have enough anxiety #analyses #“essays”

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gothy-froggy · 10 months

Text

Let Me Love You in My Own Way

Killer Frequency (spoilers)

Note: this fan fiction doesn’t canonically follow the game fully to make the plot more interesting. It also takes place years after the game.

The Whistling Man (Henry Barrow) x (fem)reader

Warnings: mentioned deaths, obsessive & stalker behavior, not proofread AND rushed

Summary: reader is well known as one of few survivors of the Whistling Man after his return. While hanging out with another survivor on the Whistling night, the Whistling Man returns 8 years later. Reader now relives the night, but noticed an unexpected behavior from him..

——————————————-

“Good evening Gallows Creek! I’m your host, Allison Berks on the show Night of Terrors. Today I have one of our soul survivor from the Whistling Man after his return almost around eight year ago.” The hostess introduced as the cheered and clapped. Her smile as she glanced at some papers on the coffee table.

“Well Mrs. Berks I have to say, it’s a honor to be on this show.” The woman flashed a smile as she calmed her nerves down. It’s been so long since she really talked about that night. Allison chuckled.

“I feel like I should be the one saying that to you, really. I mean, you are Gallows Creek’s main survivor of the Whistling Man.”

“No, please, I’m not as successful as you are.”

“Well, I bet you won’t have any trouble. I’ve heard from your friends you’re quite talented. But, perhaps that’ll be a discussion for another time. As we all know, tomorrow is the night of the Whistling night. I just have a few questions about the night lit you don’t mind me asking.”

“Not at all, ask away.” The hostess grinned as she held her tea in her hand.

“Now you along with Carrie claimed that the Whistling Man spared you. Can you tell us what happened that night? We’d love to hear it from the final girl herself.”

The woman chuckled nervously, holding her beverage in her hands as she stared down at the liquid.

“Well, I wouldn’t call myself the final girl, scream queen or whatever. Carrie deserves it. She actually made a plan and fought. It was..different for me.” She sipped her beverage before letting out a quick sigh.

“Um…I was in my home. Lights were off, nobody was with me, I was listening to Forrest Nash and Peggy Weaver’s station about the murders. While listening in, I heard the whistle,” She paused. Allison placed a hand over hers.

“It’s ok, you can take your time.” She reassured. After taking a breath in, she continued.

“He was in my kitchen. I don’t know how he got inside since my back door was locked, but he did. My front door was farther away and he was in front of my back door. So I ran upstairs and pushed whatever was near me down the stairs to slow him down.”

“That’s when you called Nash? You were whispering when you called.” The woman nod to confirm.

“Before I was able to make a plan, he- the Whistling Man grabbed the phone and placed his free hand on my face. He just…stared at me. Did nothing. After a bit he just tossed the phone and walked out.” Her voice softening, as if she dozed off to think about that night.

“Wow. That’s definitely out of character for him. Um, you must’ve been terrified.” Allison folded her hands.

“I was. I grabbed my phone and told Nash what happened. I didn’t see him after that.”

“Well, the night is tomorrow. Do you have any plans?” Allison questioned to lighten up the mood.

“Well, I’ll be having company over for the night. I hope that nothing will happen tonight for me. Or anyone else. It’s very traumatic and I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone.” Allison nod at the plan before continuing the show. After a while, Allison thanks her before thanking the audience and ending the interview.

——————————————-

“Well, is it true?”

“Is what true?” She sat down with snacks right next to friend. The lights were dim. The television providing most of the light.

“You know, your interaction with the killer. Didn’t leave any details out?”

”Eugene, why would I make it up? Did you make up your ‘love of your life?’” She sassed him.

“Hey, I was a dumb teenager then…” He huffed. She chuckled, handing him some snacks.

“I wasn’t lying. It was really weird. It sucks that they still don’t know who was behind the mask. Forrest was so close to the truth..” Eugene nod in agreement.

“Yeah…so many people died during this day.”

The two changed the subject and switched through channels to find something to watch. She met Eugene while at work. He recognized that she was survivor and they talked about that night, becoming good friends after.

It was last. The night has been long. Maybe because she stayed up so late, maybe the dread of it being the night of the murders. She couldn’t tell if it was one of those reasons or both. She was a little bummed that Eugene had to leave for some emergency with his girlfriend. She waved goodbye and went upstairs to go to bed.

She tossed and turned under her covers. She couldn’t rest for some reason. Perhaps it was her just being paranoid, but she decided to try again. It didn’t work. She sighed, getting up and going down the stairs to get a glass of water. She looked around in her kitchen as she took a sip. An odd feeling raising inside her as her heart started racing.

Something didn’t feel right.

She tried to shake off the feeling, but it didn’t go away. The lights were off. The night was cold and silent. It was always haunting. The woman placed the water down and switched it out with a knife. She placed the knife in her hoodie pocket. She glanced outside of the back door.

Nothing.

She let out a sigh, making her way back to stairs as the feeling started to fade away and the weight fell off her shoulders.

But it came back.

The faint sound of a familiar whistle could be heard somewhere nearby. Was it inside? Was it outside? The whistle called out once again, proving that it wasn’t her imagination giving her hearing phantom trick again.

No. Not again.

She hurried up the stairs and quickly shut her door. She turned around to see him.

The Whistling Man.

He reached out and yanked her away from the door. She tried to scream and pull away, but his grip was too strong and his other hand was against her mouth. His horrifying mask tilted to the side as watched her struggle.

The man waited until she stopped struggling and quiet down. His hand slowly left her mouth. He let go of her body, shoving her dresser in front of the door.

“Hey, what the hell-” She was about to speak up before to made a sharp turn towards her. She shut her mouth, stepping a few steps back. He watched her for a few seconds before walking towards her desk. She hugged her arms as she watched him look at her desk. He scattered through the papers, picking up a newspaper. He turned back to her, looking up at her from the newspaper.

“I- um, I couldn’t help but do some research..” She chose her words carefully, barely speaking above a whisper. He tossed the newspaper back on the desk. The masked man walked back up to her. Her heart quickens, watching him get closer and closer.

Then she remembered. The knife in her pocket. She grabbed the knife’s handle and swung the knife, aiming it at his chest. But she wasn’t quick enough. The Whistling man grabbed her wrist. He added pressure. Forcing the knife to drop from her hand. He swiftly pushed her against the wall, keeping her in place.

“Let me go!” She cried out. She let out a sob. The man slowly tilted his head to the side. His hand reached for her face. Instead of being hit, choked, or any sign of violence, his hand caressed her face. A small gasped came form the woman.

“What do you want from me?” She whispered. He just stared, his hand still on her cheek. The masked man let her go, his hand leaving her face. She watched him grab his knife from the desk and slipped out of her window. He glanced at her one more time, disappearing from her view. She slid down against the wall, letting out a sigh out of relief. After a moment to collect herself, she got up and looked at the desk.

Is that…blood?

She then scattered towards the window. He wasn’t anywhere to be seen. The woman then reached for the door, moving the dresser out of the way. She raced down the stairs and looked outside of the windows. A car parked outside near her house. Her blood went cold. It was Eugene’s. She didn’t want to believe it. His car, the blood…is he?

She quickly grabbed her phone and ran out, calling out to Eugene.

“Eugene? Eugene!” She called out, sprinting towards his car. She stopped, seeing a familiar red liquid drip from the car. No, no, no. She followed the trail on the ground to meet Eugene’s still body. The screamed, letting out sobs as she called for the police.

“Hello? Hello police? Please I need help-”

“This is 189 16-”

“Forrest? Oh God Forrest please help me! It’s me. He’s back and he got Eugene!” She stammered over her words.

“Are you alright?” Forrest asked. She assured him that she’s alright. After answering a few questions, her breathing got heavy and quickened.

“Hey, breathe. You’ll be alright.” Forrest caught her attention back. She couldn’t believe it. It was like that night all over again. The police being down, having to talk to Forrest for help…

The Whistling Man.

“Hey, we called someone that’s going to help and get Eugene. Everything is going to be fine.”

“Yeah…yeah ok. I’ll uh, call you back. Thanks Forrest.” She hung up and sat next to Eugene.

“Come on Eugene…” She murmured.

——————————————-

“Forrest? It’s me. The person you called came and took Eugene.”

“Glad to hear that everything worked out.”

“Yeah…Forrest? How many other calls did you get about the Whistling Man?” A few moments of silent passed by until Forrest sighed.

“Quite a few. Doesn’t seem like he’s playing this time.”

“I wish you luck with the others. And please, figure out who it is. This needs to end.” She told him.

“Right. Talk to you soon.” Forrest said his goodbyes.

She sighed in relief before dragging herself back to her door. She looked down while looking for her keys.

Huh?

She looked down to see a single flower and a note.

I’ll see you soon

- Hen W.M.

She stared at the note as a shiver trickled down her spine. She took the note and the flower inside. She sat on a stool in her kitchen, twirling the flower in her hand.

“Who the hell could this be from?” She asked herself, staring at the note. It was haunting, eerie. She look outside, letting out a loud gasp.

A familiar mask was on the other side of the window. He let out another whistle before walking away. She didn’t even bother to call Forrest. It felt…different than being stalked and killed. Was he the one who left the note? Why? She was too tired to stress anymore. She placed the flower in a vase and went upstairs.

Tonight was stressful enough.

——————————————-

As she went upstairs, she failed to notice the masked man watched her go up through the window again.

He still had much so much to do, but

Harming her will never be on the list. He picked up his blood stained knife and walked back into the woods.

Gallows Creek needs to pay, to have a cleansing.

And he’s glad that she didn’t seem to notice his mistake signing the note.

He let out one more whistle, going to find the next one of the list.

——————————————-

A/N: very rushed but hey, this is just chapter one. Maybe? Might continue this. But hey! The Whistling man content for my simps

#killer frequency #henry barrow #henry barrow x reader #killer frequency x reader #the whistling man #the whistling man x reader #x reader #fan fic writing

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gaybananabread · 5 months

Note

Hello, beautiful soul!! For the fruit shop, could we have lee!Hawks and ler!LoV? With banana, orange, and watermelon? Maybe some of those tickle bites/kisses land on those extra sensitive wings...lord knows how he'd handle a raspberry. He's canonically vibration sensitive.

Fruit(s): Bananas, Oranges, Watermelon

Aww hi Anon! I’ve never written for the LoV besides Dabi, so new experience! I do have the character limit capped at four for these fics, so I just picked the league members that I thought would be most fun. Love writing for KFC, definitely one of my MHA favorites to get got (). This is gonna be pre-PLF because it’s just easier for me that way. Thank you for requesting, and I hope you Enjoy!

Lee: Hawks

Lers: Dabi, Twice, Toga

Summary: Hawks is sassing his fellow LoV members, collectively pissing everyone off. While some more violent methods are suggested, the most interested trio finds a way to get back at the birdie without injuring their “asset.”

Warnings: none! This is a tickle fic, so if you don’t like that, scroll away!!

The League of Villains were gathered in their “meeting room,” though only two members were really paying attention to Shigaraki’s spiel. Kurogiri was…probably listening? It was hard to tell with him. Mr. Compress seemed to be engaged, nodding along and occasionally humming. Then again, he almost always indulged Shigi’s rants; it was just the kind of man he was.

Dabi was practically laying on the table, his head resting on his folded arms; he couldn’t care less about the precautions. If heroes ever found them, he’d burn them all to a nice crisp. Twice and Toga were trading a piece of paper back-and-forth, writing little notes and doodles to pass the time. Spinner idly twirled one of his blades, sharing most of his teammates’ boredom.

Right as Shigaraki got to the extra repetitive part of his speech, a smug yet smooth voice spoke up. “Don’cha think you should talk about something new, Shigaraki? This is getting kinda old.”

Six pairs of eyes shot over to Hawks, though most were more excited than shocked; it was something other than the same “we’re the ultimate fighters” speech. Shigaraki, however, seemed less than amused. “Really, hero? And what would you say, since you’re so amazing at speeches?” The word “hero” was said very bitterly; his way of reminding Hawks that he was still on thinner ice.

“Well, ya really haven’t gone over the next moves for the League. We’ve tossed ideas around, but do we have a clear idea? Seems kinda important ta me.” The Decay user frowned, though he couldn’t say Hawks was wrong. He had been laying the hero slander on a little thick, but he was getting angry. Besides, he had a clear idea of what was to come next. He just wasn’t ready to share that big a plan with the bird yet.

“That…isn’t ready for sharing. I do have plans, you just… don’t get to know them.” That wasn’t a lie, either. He wasn’t telling them more than the bare minimum until the day grew closer. Upon hearing this, a few league members huffed and chuckled under their breaths. Even though they knew their leader did have plans, it was funny to see someone make him squirm.

Hawks normally wouldn’t act like that; his main goal was to blend in and find out the League’s big plans without getting caught. That day, however, he was bored of the same unhelpful information, his casual attitude and snark slipping out without him realizing it.

That week, it had slipped out a lot. Everyone’s patience was wearing thin, to the point of them discussing various torture methods and violent solutions. A few were particularly pissy, having a group discussion about what the hell to do with their newest member.

“I’m gonna kill that ungrateful newbie.” Shigaraki growled in a scratchy, annoyed tone. “Who does he think he is, hijacking my fine meeting?!” Toga giggled, though didn’t make any comments.

Dabi spoke next, huffing. “Told you lunatics he was trouble. But no, none‘a you listened to me. Reap what you sow, assholes.” He really didn’t care about minding his language; everyone was a bit pissed, giving him an excuse. Twice decided to put his two cents in, quite literally.

“C’mon, it’s probably just an off week for him or something. Let’s main him; I’m sure nobody would mind!” Toga giggled again, catching the attention of the hothead. Dabi glared at her, crossing his arms as his snarl somehow deepened. “What’s got you all giggly, psycho? Maiming get you going or somethin’?”

The blonde just shook her head, a shit-eating yet lax smile on her face. “You boys are going about this all wrong~! If he’s making jokes, you gotta make him laugh for it to stop! Izuku-kun does it all the time~” She sounded oddly reminiscent at the end… Still, Dabi just scoffed.

“Make him laugh? And you’re still stalking that hero kid? Seriously?” She disregarded that second part, nodding and smiling widely. “Yeah! He’s looking for a giggle or snicker when he sasses you guys; why not return the favor~?” The answer was cryptic, as things usually were with Toga, but it got a certain man interested.

“Return the favor? How do we do that, jokes? That’s idiotic, let’s just do it my way!” His first statement sounded intrigued, so Toga went with it and explained. “Well, that’s one way, but Izuku’s friends make it a lot more fun!”

Dabi interjected, sick of the short back-and-forth. “Fuckin’ hell, just say it, you nutjob! Sick of this!” She rolled her eyes, pouting. “So grumpy, Dabi! Well, I say…we tickle him!”

Every man in the room paused, looking at her with varying degrees of “what now?” for her statement.

“Tickle him? What is this, fuckin’ preschool?”

“Toga, we’re respectable villains, not children.”

“Oh…I mean, uhm, why. What the hell?!”

“C’mon boys, you’re no fun! It would teach him a lesson, and he’d probably stop interrupting your meetings~” Toga said the last bit in a sing-songy voice, making Shigaraki huff. She had won. “Whatever, I don’t care. If it doesn’t work, though, I’m putting chicken wings on the menu.” Their leader left, done with that entire conversation; Toga had his permission, though.

“Are you really not gonna take the opportunity to get back at Hawks? Even after he called you crispy?” The flame user’s nostrils flared; she knew how to play her cards. “FINE! Fine, ya shit, I’ll help! You’re lucky I need revenge… Twice, c’mon.”

The multi-opinionated villain jumped up, seeming mostly curious and a bit excited to carry out their plan. Well, if you could call the vague outline of “tickle Hawks until he stops being an ass” a plan. Still, they were ready.

Hawks was sitting at the bar counter, scrolling aimlessly through his phone. He was bored, and the news was rather unhelpful in keeping him up-to-date. He was in a sort of daze, so much so that he didn’t notice the three villains sneaking up behind him.

Twice took one more step, though that seemed to be a wrong move; the floorboard squeaked, alerting Hawks of their presence. He whipped his head around, seeing the three of them “sneaking” towards him. Oh hell no…

He immediately tried to fly away before realizing that he couldn’t; he had depleted his wings in a fight a few days prior. He was stuck with running. The hero took off, zipping into the back room of the bar.

The villain trio followed, though Dabi wasn’t putting his full effort into it. Twice ducked through one of the roundabout doors, running through the back halls. Right as Hawks flung another door open to try and escape, he was greeted by two wide cloth eyes. Not good!

Twice tackled him, calling out to Dabi for the taller man to restrict the winged hero. Dabi grabbed Hawks, keeping his hands pinned behind his back as he practically marched the other man back into the main bar. The flame user forced Hawks to sit, using Toga’s red scarf thing to bind his hands together. “Let me go! When I get loose, you guys are-”

Toga pretty much cut him off, too eager to wait any longer. She bent her fingers into claws, running them down both sides of him. He squeaked, biting his lip to restrain the giggles bubbling in his throat. He failed pretty quickly.

The blood enthusiast cooed, speeding up her tickling fingers. “Heya birdie~! You’ve been trying to get us to laugh aaall week! Figured we could give you your turn!” Hawks thrashed a bit, realizing two things: one, dabi was behind him and very close to his wings, and two, he was completely stuck. Shit. “G-gehet off mehehehe!”

Dabi spun the stool a bit, exposing more of Hawks’ front and giving the two other villains more access. His own fingers wormed their ways between his wing bases and his back, tickling furiously; man was wasting no time. The duality of Toga’s gentler teasing and Dabi’s ruthless scribbles drew deep, panicky belly laughter from him. “H-HEHEHEY! DAHABI, NAHAT- GYAAHAHA!”

“Ooooh, bad spot~ Get ‘im, Dabi!” Toga cooed close to Hawks’ ear, her fingers teasing along his ribcage and sides. Now that the man was more exposed, Twice joined in, his hands as split as his personality. The left was lightly clawing at his stomach while the other was digging into the back of his knee. The most wonderful noise Toga had ever heard left his lips; a snorty squeal.

“Awwwww, Hawks~! That’s soooo cute! Twice, make him do it again!” The man continued to torment Hawks’ knee, pulling more loud laughter and a few snorts from him. “TWIHIHI- *snrk* FUHUHAHACK OHOFF!” “Wow, you’re ticklish! He’s like a human squeak toy!” Toga giggled, absolutely delighted; it was like a deranged kid in a candy store.

While those boisterous reactions were great and all, Dabi was out for revenge, not playtime. Looking over the bird man’s wings, he noticed just how much they were twitching from the scribbling on the bases. The most they would move, though, was when Dabi got closer, his breath slightly ruffling a few feathers. Oh…oh that’s perfect.

Leaning in closer, Dabi whispered in the hero’s ear, the smirk clear in his voice. “Get ready to sing for me, birdie~” Hawks squeaked at the buzz on his ear, his eyes widening when he realized just where Dabi was. Toga and Twice were still going to town, giving him no reprieve. It wasn’t as bad as when Dabi was on his wings, but that would soon change. “Dahahabi noho! Ihi- I’ll kihihill youhuhuhu!”

Completely ignoring the other man’s pleas, Dabi lowered his mouth to the depleted wings, gently nibbling on the very top of the frame.

Hawks practically shrieked, his back arching as he tried to get away. Toga grabbed his waist, both wanting to continue and help out her fellow tickler. “DAHAHAHAHA! *snrk* NAHAHAT THEHERE!”

Dabi just chuckled against his wings, sneaking small kisses in with the nibbles. The other man’s reactions, while adorable, were fulfilling his need for revenge quite nicely. It was also hilarious to see a pro hero absolutely destroyed by something so simple. “What’s wrong, bird brain? Does it tickle?”

At that point, what Twice and Toga were doing was nothing; his wings were horrid, especially with bites and the like. If he could, he’d send his feathers after Dabi to get him off. His wings were left with only smaller feathers, however, and he couldn’t focus enough to control them if he tried.

As much as the man hated to do it, he was really close to his breaking point. Throwing in the white flag, Hawks tried to call the mercy plea, though he had no idea which one to use. “S-STAHAHAP! REHED, UHUNCLE, C’MOHOHON!”

Dabi snickered, taking a quick break from the nibbles and kisses to tease Hawks’ ear once again. “You gotta promise to behave, songbird~ No more sass.” Then, without giving the winged hero a chance to speak, he blew a raspberry right on the base of one of Hawks’ wings.

That man lost his shit.

“NYAAAAHAHA! *srk* DAHAHA-” The man’s laughter went silent as Dabi blew another raspberry, the killer vibrations spreading all throughout his wings and flooding his senses. The vibration sensitivity in his wings was amazing for flight combat, but it was like an Achillies heel in that moment. Tears of mirth gathered in the corners of his eyes, his thrashing almost tripling.

Toga, of all people, felt a bit bad for Hawks. She liked the bird a bit and had already gotten her fill of his laughter. Plus, the silent stuff was no fun. “Awe, Dabi, give him a break. We don’t wanna kill him; he won’t be able to laugh anymore!”

Rolling his eyes, he pulled his head away; it was almost cute how quickly the man slumped back onto his chest. He was exhausted.

Panting and trying to regain his composure, Hawks giggled off the residual tickles. Both of his wings were buzzing with ticklish energy, his face red and his mind reeling. “Hoho- hohohoholy shihit…” Looking around, he noticed the expectant looks he was getting. He’d rather not risk that happening again so soon. “Ihi prohohomise to…to stohop sassing youhu guhuhuhuys. Hahappy?”

A small sound came from behind him; something strangely close to an amused snort as Dabi chuckled. “Ecstatic. You’re a mess, bird brain.” Toga leaped forwards, getting very into Hawks’ personal space and smiling. “Oh my, that was adorable! You look so cute when you beg~!” Twice chuckled behind her, both sides of him amused with what happened.

The moment Dabi untied his hands, Hawks stormed off, shutting and locking the door to his temporary room in the bar. Having achieved their goal, the three villains split ways, each going to do their respective business. Dabi went to stalk the city’s nighttime scene, Twice decided to play video games, and Toga updated her tabs on poor Midoriya. While they all did their own thing, all three of them were thinking about what had just happened.

Even Hawks, who would have preferred to forget it ever happened, laid on his bed with the event running through his mind. He’d definitely be watching his mouth from then on…

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